English barber accuses Australia 'keeper Alex Carey of not paying for haircut; Cricket Australia rubbishes rumour

Barely out of the Jonny Bairstow stumping controversy, Australia wicket-keeper Alex Carey now finds himself in the middle of another one. Reports have emerged of Carey getting a haircut on the eve of the third Ashes Test but leaving the salon without paying. Alex allegedly had been to a salon called ‘Doc Barnet’s Barber Shop’ near their hotel in Leeds with his teammates Marnus Labuschagne, Usman Khwaja and David Warner. All of them had a haircut and paid but Alex couldn’t as the salon was cash only and he wasn’t carrying any. So he promised to transfer the amount, £30, later but didn’t do so. “We don’t accept cards, and Alex said he had no cash on him”, Adam Mahmood, a Doc Barnet’s employee was quoted as saying by The Sun. Mahmood also pointed to an ATM nearby to highlight that Alex could have gotten the cash if he intended to pay. “There’s a Tesco cash machine literally round the corner he could have run to.” “He could have nipped back to their hotel and been no more than five minutes, but instead he said he would transfer it.” “Maybe he forgot. I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt, but I won’t be happy if it’s not paid by Monday,” he added. The hairdresser claimed that he didn’t even know of the Bairstow stumping episode until former British skipper Alastair Cook came in for a cut. Meanwhile, Cricket Australia has come up with a different version of the story to rescue their already under-fire keeper. According to them, the story was somewhat right but the player in question was not Carey, in fact, he hasn’t had a haircut since the World Test Championship (WTC) final early last month, they claim. They say that it was a different player and paid later with an international transfer, for which he also has a receipt.

Australian management say the claims Alex Carey owes a barber £30 are untrue. He hasn’t had his hair cut since the WTC final.

Another player went to said barber, paid via international transfer on the spot, and they’ll return today with the receipt to clear up confusion. #Ashes

— Scott Bailey (@ScottBaileyAAP) July 8, 2023

He’s expected to call in at the barber’s with the receipt and put the controversy to rest. The controversy kicked off when Cook recalled his conversation with the barber on commentary for the BBC Test Match Special. Cook, however, had also made it clear that the Australian player may have paid up by then. “True story. He might have paid by now,” he had concluded.

"True story" 🤦 https://t.co/3RnquyhpPU

— Daniel Brettig 🏏 (@danbrettig) July 8, 2023

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On the field, Australia lead the Ashes 2-0 after two Test matches and hold a 142-run advantage going into Day 3 of the third Ashes Test at Headingley.