Carey's emotional ton leads Aussies' stop-start batting effort

Alex Carey delivered his finest Ashes performance while Usman Khawaja seized an extraordinary career lifeline to lift an Australian team once again in this Ashes series shorn of one of its regular stars.

In the absence of the unwell Steve Smith, Carey's emotional hometown hundred and Khawaja's highest score on these shores in almost two years underpinned an otherwise stuttering first-day batting effort on an Adelaide Oval pitch that holds few demons.

The hosts reached 8-326 at stumps, short of the knockout blow Pat Cummins would have hoped for after electing to bat at the toss on a scorching day when temperatures surged above 35 degrees.

With the mercury to soar closer to 40 tomorrow, England now have the chance to punish Australia on a drop-in wicket that will have had the early moisture baked out of it.

The efforts of Carey, whose 143-ball 106 brought his wife Eloise to tears as she watched on from the Member's Stand, and Khawaja, only playing in this match due to Smith's dramatic late withdrawal, have at least upped the pressure on Ben Stokes' men who are trying to fight back from 0-2 down in this NRMA Insurance Ashes series.

Carey's knock may not be his best in Test cricket – his match-winning 98no in Christchurch last year surely holds that title – but it was his most profound.

The South Australian, whose father Gordon passed away in September following a long battle with cancer, looked to the heavens after running the three to clinch his third Test ton.

"You know the reasons why – I'm probably a bit emotional now," Carey, who survived a controversial caught-behind review on 72, told reporters. "It was obviously a really good feeling to score a hundred on home soil.

"Family and friends were here ... they would have been proud. They love coming to the cricket and watching me play. My kids are here, Eloise and mum and nieces – it would have been a really nice moment for them.

"We were in a little bit of a sticky situation there straight after lunch as well. So to form a partnership with Uzzie and I guess keep us in the fixture … was great.

"I would have loved to have scored more runs and be there bit longer.

"But to be able to take the helmet off and look up to the heavens, it was a really nice moment."

It continues a fine 2025 for Carey, who is now Australia's leading run scorer this calendar year during which time he is averaging above 50. The Adelaide crowd chanted his name after he reached his century, underlining his fan-favourite status.

Australia had earlier been forced into a dramatic late change to their side after Smith's lingering dizziness and nausea symptoms failed to clear before play, opening the door for Khawaja to come back into the team in his place.

It comes in a series that has already seen Cummins miss two Tests, Nathan Lyon get dropped, Khawaja sidelined with a back complaint, and Josh Hazlewood get ruled out completely.

Khawaja's career looked all but done when Cummins revealed the soon-to-be 39-year-old had been overlooked for this match on Tuesday despite him regaining full fitness after a layoff due to a back injury.

Instead, the veteran left-hander held together Australia's middle order amid two separate collapses of 2-0, calmly accumulating 82 from 126 balls as he stuck to his guns by scoring heavily through the leg-side against a so-so England bowling effort.

Khawaja made his opponents pay for Harry Brook dropping him (on five) off Josh Tongue, the tall seamer who replaced Gus Atkinson in the England attack for this match.

Jofra Archer was tremendous after his ticker was questioned during the eventful end to the second Test. The pacey right-armer dismissed three of Australia's top five and finished day one with figures of 3-29 off 16 overs.

His hotly-awaited battle with Smith though remains on ice for now.

Australia's star No.4 had attempted to bat in the nets before play, though an ensuing conversation with Cummins and coach Andrew McDonald appeared to end in that pair telling Smith he was not right to play, rather than the other way around.

Smith, who was revealed to have suffered a recurrence of vertigo-like symptoms that have dogged him on and off over recent years, cut a dishevelled and upset figure as he trudged off the ground midway through Australia's warm-ups.

Khawaja might have expected to return in his regular opening spot but he instead watched on as Head and Weatherald went out first and the former SA teammates once again generated fast early runs.

But after blazing 33 in eight overs, mostly off Brydon Carse's wayward early offerings, Khawaja was at the crease facing a relatively new ball as the pair exited within five balls of each other.

England's fielding, a cause for concern in Brisbane where five catches went down under lights, was at times a bright spot here, never more so than when Zak Crawley plucked a one-hander to account for Head after Stokes perfectly positioned him at a square catching cover.

But Khawaja's early life, courtesy of Brook attempting a dive to his left when one was perhaps not necessary, must have left Stokes exasperated. It only emboldened the recalled veteran, who piled on 27 off the 19 balls after the shelled catch as Marnus Labuschagne helped him add 61 for the third wicket.

It was again one step forward, then two steps back for Australia.

After Labuschagne bunted a simple catch to Carse with a limp pull shot, Cameron Green was done by the drop-in wicket's slow bounce as he popped another chance to the same leg-side fielder. It was a comedown for the allrounder after he pocketed more than A$3m in last night's IPL auction.

Carey began his innings in a rush, scoring 24 from as many balls, as he and Khawaja fed off each other in managing some challenging (as well as some not-so-challenging) English bowling through the middle session as they put on a 91-run stand.

Khawaja, another nick off Tongue (this one falling short of the slips) and some decent balls from Jacks aside, otherwise looked serene as he rounded in on becoming the oldest Australian centurion in almost 50 years.

But the hosts once again squandered a strong position when Khawaja top-edged a sweep off Jacks to be caught on the square-leg boundary by Tongue – cold comfort for the seamer who should have dismissed him three hours earlier.

It was then another missed opportunity for Josh Inglis, who chopped on playing a white-ball-style guiding shot to a Tongue delivery that jagged back into him. The No.7 has looked every bit the Test cricketer in his two innings this series but only has scores of 23 and 32 to show for it.

Carey shepherded Cummins (13) and Mitchell Starc (33no) in their bid to eke out more vital first-innings runs, and survived some skittish moments before showing palpable relief when he reached triple figures.

An expensive day for Jacks (2-105 off 20 overs) nonetheless saw the allrounder finish with Australia's two main contributors as Carey followed Khawaja in succumbing to him, also attempting a sweep.

John Williamson had earlier led a tribute to the victims of the Bondi terror attack, singing his famous 'True Blue' after the 56,298-strong crowd held a minute's silence.  

2025-26 NRMA Insurance Men's Ashes

First Test: Australia won by eight wickets

Second Test: Australia won by eight wickets

Third Test: December 17-21: Adelaide Oval, 10:30am AEDT

Fourth Test: December 26-30: MCG, Melbourne, 10:30am AEDT

Fifth Test: January 4-8: SCG, Sydney, 10:30am AEDT

Australia squad (third Test only): Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Brendan Doggett, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster

England squad: Ben Stokes (c), Harry Brook (vc), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Matthew Fisher, Will Jacks, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Josh Tongue