Alex Carey has been recently living in the minds of English media rent-free. The chatter around Spirit of Cricket ignited by his running out of Jonny Bairstow in the Lord’s Test hadn’t subsided yet, now another new topic – miles away from the cricket field – has emerged in the British media that Carey duped a barber and owes him some money.
This story came out of nowhere on Friday, while Alex Carey is amidst the 3rd Ashes 2023 Test, in Leeds. And, without much surprise, it was published by UK’s The Sun newspaper, the media house which is already notoriously famous for its controversial reports and has in the past been slammed by many sportspeople, including the current England Test skipper Ben Stokes.
The Sun labeled Alex Carey as the “Ashes Villian”, – they are still not over the Bairstow run-out – in their headline. In the article, it was said that he had had a haircut at the Doc Barnet’s Barber Shop in Leeds, and had gone there with teammates Marnus Labuschagne, David Warner, and Usman Khawaja on the eve of the Headingley Test.
The Sun published an interview of the barber at the time, Adam Mahmood, who said that Alex Carey didn’t have cash with him and didn’t pay him for his haircut.
Adam said: “They all came in just before we shut.
“We cut their hair and had a great laugh.
“But we don’t accept cards and Alex said he had no cash on him.
“Well, there’s a Tesco cash machine literally round the corner he could have run to.
“He could have nipped back to their hotel and been no more than five minutes but instead he said he would transfer it.
Adam said he’s expecting the money by Monday, when after the Leeds Test ends.
“Maybe he forgot. I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt but if it’s not paid by Monday, I won’t be happy.”
Steve Smith defends Alex Carey amid barber’s accusation
The English media has been having a go after Alex Carey since the run-out of Bairstow. But now, such an accusation of not paying a barber wasn’t going to be let passed by the Australians, who have retorted back, leading with star batsman Steve Smith who took to social media to rubbish the claims of the barber. Steve Smith said that Alex Carey hasn’t gotten a haircut since they were in London.
Cricket Australia, too, has responded, and they have “unequivocally rubbished the story, revealing that Carey hasn’t received a haircut or visited a barber since last month’s World Test Championship final in London”, according to News Corp.
According to CA, a different Australian player had visited the barber, later paying for the haircut by international transfer — they have a receipt proving the transaction, and they will visit the barber after the Test match to sort the matter.
