After his side retained the Ashes urn with a win over England at Adelaide, Australian skipper Pat Cummins praised the performances of key players, calling for statues to be built in honour of batter Travis Head and wicketkeeper-batter Alex Carey, saying that "they deserve it". He also had some words of praise for batter Marnus Labuschagne, who was sensational while fielding at the slips throughout the match.
The hometown heroes Head and Carey might as well get their statues built in future at their home turf of Adelaide Oval, as the duo produced two masterclass centuries which ultimately helped in putting England in a record run-chase of 435 runs to win the do-or-die Test, and a valiant Three Lions unit fell short by 82 runs, with Labuschagne, as his captain said, "manufacturing" some wickets with four brilliant catches during the defence of a record total.
Speaking on Head-Carey heroics and Marnus's fielding, Cummins said that the batting duo deserves their own statues and hilariously suggested that a returning Steve Smith and Marnus would have to fight over taking the second slip fielders during the Melbourne Test, with both being exceptional catchers at that position.
"I think Steve and him (Marnus) might have a fight over who gets the second slip back next week. On a tough pitch like this in Adelaide, there was not a lot on offer. Taking 20 wickets was always going to be hard. Marnus manufactured a few with his fielding.
"Travis Head and Alex Carey. Do not know where their statues are going to go soon, but they deserve it. It is a wonderful place to play Test cricket. Packed crowds all five days. So many people travel in for this one Test every year. Seeing two homegrown heroes was awesome," he said.
Carey, adjudged the 'Player of the Match' for his batting heroics in his hometown to seal the Ashes series at Adelaide, expressed his privilege at being able to play in front of a "special" home crowd and hailed fellow batters Travis Head and Usman Khawaja for their crucial performances.
Carey had a Test match of a lifetime, as not only did he get to score his maiden Ashes century in front of his family at his home ground, but he also formed a partnership with fellow South Australian Head, which proved to be instrumental in sealing the Ashes series for his side and keeping England waiting for a few more years to repeat their 2010/11 heroics in the Aussie land.
Besides his batting, he was just as exceptional behind the stumps, taking some really clean catches to prove his mettle as one of the best glovesmen in world cricket right now.
Speaking during the post-match presentation, Carey said, "We knew what was on the line coming into this match, and I thought the boys stayed really present and played what was in front of us. We know England is such a good cricket team and that we were going to be challenged. Again, right to the end today, it was a real grind. For the boys to all chip in throughout the series so far, it has been a lot of fun. And this Adelaide crowd throughout the last five days has just been something special."
"Travis, again, something special here -- four Test hundreds at the same venue. I know how good he is, and he is showing the world he's one of the best players. To have family and friends, to be able to contribute to Australia's victories, is always something I am trying to do. To do it here (score his maiden Ashes century) in Adelaide this week was pretty amazing.
"I am lucky to play a lot of Sheffield Shield cricket here, it is a familiar surface. Against a really good bowling attack, we were definitely challenged throughout the day. To be able to put on a partnership with Usman Khawaja, who came back into the group and played really well at late notice, it was fantastic again, not surprising from such a great player," he added.
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