Alex Carey takes cheeky swipe at England crowd over hostile reception after sad family admission

Alex Carey couldn't help but take a cheeky dig at the English cricket crowd after producing a match-saving knock with Josh Hazlewood, only days after admitting the toll the Ashes fallout took on his family. Carey was the saviour for Australia with the bat as the visitors were dismissed for 270 with 32 balls left in the innings.

Travis Head, the star of the show at Trent Bridge with a 154 not out, couldn't repeat his stunning knock as he fell for 29 after smashing two sixes. After Mitch Marsh scored 60 runs at the top of the order, Australia crumbled as Carey watched the middle order offer little resistance. Fortunately, Carey was able to reach 74 runs because of Hazlewood's resistance with the bat.

The duo put on a 49-run last wicket stand with Hazlewood stranded on four for most of the partnership. This didn't seem quite enough at Headingley as England started fast. But the Aussie quicks rattled the hosts in the powerplay as they reduced them to 5-65 with two golden ducks in the mix.

The quicks shared the wickets at the top of the order with Starc securing 3-50 off 9.2 overs as England offered little chasing down the modest total. Marsh was pleased with his bowlers as Aaron Hardie, Hazlewood, Starc and Glenn Maxwell all pitched in to take wickets.

"You always like more with the bat, these days, 270 always feels a little bit short, but the way the boys bowled was outstanding," Marsh said after the win. "When you welcome that much experience into your line-up that's great. It's also the help they give the others, having Aaron Hardie bowling with Starc and Hazlewood is a really good learning experience for him."

Alex Carey hits back at boos during England return

While Australia's bowlers made the difference, Carey was the talk of the town having made his return to England after his infamous incident in the Ashes last year. Carey became public enemy No.1 after his stumping of Jonny Bairstow in the third Test of the Ashes, which has now seen him cop slash from the English who have not forgotten the incident.

The controversial stumping ignited the remainder of the series with the fallout carrying on for months between the two nations. And Carey was handed a warm welcome from the Headingley crowd as he was booed upon walking to the crease.

Carey was only in the side because Josh Inglis pulled out of the game. But thankfully for the Aussies he was as he shrugged off the jeers and provided what was to be a match-winning innings for Australia. And after the match, Carey admitted he still loves playing in England, despite his reception.

“I love it here,” Carey said in his post-match press conference. “It’s always a warm welcome.” Carey was also happy to he filling in as he praised Inglis who couldn't play due to injury.

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“He’s a great young player, he showed that in the T20 series earlier this tour,” Carey added of his teammate. “I’ve sat on the bench for the last little period for the Australian team in the ODIs, and it’s nice to get back out there. An opportunity popped up, who knows how long it will last, but I’ve had great fun.”

Australia have now won 14 straight matches in the format. Marsh's men now sit behind Ricky Ponting's 2003 team who won 21 matches in a row.

Alex Carey reveals sad toll on family after Ashes furore

After Carey's stumping of Bairstow in the Third Test, he suffered a decline in form throughout the rest of the series. He admitted the backlash affected him mentally. And speaking ahead of the ODI series against England last week, the 33-year-old lifted the lid on how some of the awful comments were directed at his wife and kids as well.

"I actually didn't see a lot of the commentary – or most of it at least – until I watched 'The Test' doco and it was really highlighted," Carey told ABC Sport on Thursday. "I was aware there was some things being said of course but I was there with my family, we've got two young kids, so they were keeping me pretty busy.

"Look, it's never nice hearing things spoken about yourself, but more importantly [I had an issue with] the personal attacks on my family. It was unwarranted and disappointing to see that."

Despite becoming a target herself, Carey's wife Eloise proved to be his rock. "I think initially it's quite shocking to see that sort of stuff," he said about online comments and trolling. "My wife Eloise was there, she was an amazing support to me, always has been.

"She's an amazing mum and was doing all the heavy lifting while I was away on tour, playing with the kids. That mostly kept her busy, but once she read a few of those things … Some of it was pretty gross … I had to make sure I supported her as well – that's my job. She's been incredible, the kids were too young [to understand] anything but probably heard some new words in the crowd that they hadn't before."