Cricket – The Ashes – Australia v England – Fifth Test – Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, Australia – January 5, 2026 England’s Joe Root in action with Australia’s Alex Carey REUTERS/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake | Photo credit: Asanka Brendon Ratnayake
This was another unforgettable tour to Australia for the English cricketers. Australia has been far superior in batting, bowling, fielding and unfortunately even in captaincy. Ben Stokes, usually inventive and proactive, was lackluster, even if the opposition captains, Steve Smith and Pat Cummins (Adelaide Test only), were fantastic. But these are discussions that we can leave to other people or for another time.
What we’re discussing here is a fascinating element of the series that deserves center stage. And that is wicket keeping. The Australian think tank, knowing that the batsmen of the Brendon McCullum-Stokes school of batting philosophy, would step out of their crease to play attacking shots, decided that their keeper would stand up to the stumps against their fast bowlers Scott Boland and Michael Nesser, even though they operate at a speed of over 135 km/h. And to execute this strategy they had Alex Carey, a stylish goalkeeper in top form. These five Tests saw tactical brilliance and skill come together in a symphony that profoundly influenced the series.
The sight of Carey facing Boland and Neser again and again was thrilling. Gathering every ball, the ones that rose shoulder high; those who stayed low; occasionally taking off the bails to remind the hitters to be careful. And all this with beautiful footwork, calmness and silk gloves. This was not an occasional gamble as Carey stood against the stumps for entire sessions. The English batters, with their back foot now chained behind the crease, were robbed of the freedom to step out and take the lead. As it is, their openers gave them a poor start, with Mitch Starc bossing them around. And when they thought their middle order would regroup after defeating Starc, they were trapped by this gem of a strategy.
Focused professionals
We said earlier that for this strategy to work, the Aussies needed a goalkeeper of Carey’s caliber. But the other half of the Aussie performance was remarkable for how thoroughly their fast bowlers played their roles. Any fast bowler would feel outraged if a keeper routinely came to the stumps for his bowling. Therefore, it was enlightening to see how the Australian bowlers, especially Boland and Neser, bought into the plan. What we saw were focused professionals who were accurate and ruthless, while harping on the same leash and length. Their discipline was exemplary, they never strayed and kept the ball in the perfect channel to both right and left-handers. Willing bowlers, an excellent keeper, a smart coach and a dynamic captain – that’s why the whole thing felt like a symphony. In celebrating the decisive heroics of Mitch Starc and Travis Head, one must also remember the teamwork of Boland, Neser and Carey.
We believe we have just seen another exciting turning point in Test cricket. Increasingly, captains will pace their keepers as a serious game plan to contain and threaten adventurous hitters. For this, teams need exceptionally good goalkeepers. That is why wicket keeping skills will regain primacy. Sure, all teams want a wicketkeeper like Carey, Rishabh Pant or Jamie Smith to bat at number 6 or 7, but that doesn’t come at the expense of retention. Cricket has been unkind to many excellent goalkeepers who lost to inferior glovemen who batted better. This will change. Goalkeepers have always been judged by their ability to stick to spinners. Soon, the hallmark of excellence will also be their ability to keep up the pace.
When we wrote the final chapter of our book ‘Mid-wicket Tales: A Century and More of Cricket‘ in 2023 we reviewed the most important innovations and changes in the game over the past 10 to 15 years. The use of a coded seam, the offspinner bowling the wicket to right-handers as a normal option, batters playing with a bat in front of the pad to nullify LBW in the DRS era, the ramp and switch hit, and other similar developments. Each of these reminds us that change and evolution are inexorable.
We think Carey and Australia have just introduced a defining change in cricket strategy. Goalkeepers may not be able to match a Starc, Jasprit Bumrah or Jofra Archer, but they certainly will against pacers who have even marginally slower pace. This skill will be severely tested on subcontinental wickets, but the holding will only improve as a result. Keeping the pace is nothing new – we were in the stands at Chepauk, way back in 1959, when Wally Grout stunned Manmohan Sood of left-arm pacer Davidson; and again in the stands in 1969 in Bengaluru, when Ray Jordan defeated pacer Alan Connolly’s MAK Pataudi. But using this wicketkeeping skill as a sustainable and important strategy across a series is new. Welcome back, wicketkeepers.
VJ Raghunath and S Giridhar are the authors of the beloved cricket books ‘Midwicket Tales: A Century and More of Cricket’ and ‘From Mumbai to Durban: India’s Greatest Tests’
Published on January 18, 2026
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