CRICKET: Hometown heroes Head, Carey push England to the brink in Adelaide

ADELAIDE — Travis Head and Alex Carey forged a defiant late partnership at their home Adelaide Oval on Friday, all but extinguishing England’s Ashes hopes as the pair leaned on each other through another draining afternoon in the heat.

Head’s unbeaten 142 and Carey’s stubborn 52 not out helped Australia reach 271 for four at stumps, extending their lead to an imposing 356 runs.

The pair left the field to a standing ovation from a delighted Adelaide crowd, and Head said fellow South Australian Carey had given him the energy to push through mounting fatigue.

“Yeah, he’s playing well, so he’s probably kept me up and about out there,” Head told reporters, referring to Carey, who scored 106 in the first innings.

“The last 40 to 45 minutes, I started to waver a bit. I was pretty stuffed.

“We don’t really talk much, but you can sense his energy at the crease. You can sense his desire for us to get to stumps. I was just trying to get through each ball and be there for him.

“So, yeah, we dovetailed off each other really, really well today.”

Australia hold a 2–0 lead in the series and need only a draw in Adelaide to retain the Ashes as holders.

Adelaide Oval is traditionally Australia’s best batting wicket, so the hosts will be keen to bat England out of the contest while leaving enough time for their bowlers to take the remaining 10 wickets.

Head said he believed the pitch was deteriorating but not to the extent that England’s chances could be completely ruled out.

Australia were playing the long game, he added, aiming to wear down England’s bowlers with long days in the field ahead of the final Tests in Melbourne and Sydney, which are scheduled close together.

“Today was really important — another hot day to get overs into bowlers,” Head said.

“We’ve got back-to-back Test matches next, and we’ve spoken about what that can do. We saw it last year against India, their strike bowlers having to put in a lot of overs.

“So it’s going to be hard work. It’s probably a more batter-friendly wicket than we’ve seen in the past.” -Reporting by Ian Ransom in Adelaide; Editing by Peter Rutherford/Reuters