Pat Cummins reveals surprising truth behind Alex Carey’s missed Test century against New Zealand

In a surprising revelation, Australian captain Pat Cummins admitted a major mistake that left fans stunned, as he opened up about the much-hyped incident where he unintentionally deprived Alex Carey of his well-deserving century against New Zealand earlier this year.

Batting alongside Alex Carey in a nail-biting second Test match in Christchurch, Pat Cummins shockingly revealed that he was unaware that his batting partner was on the verge of a rare century, sitting just two runs away on 98 against New Zealand.

Pat Cummins admits blunder that cost Alex Carey his century in the thrilling New Zealand Test

Instead of strategizing for Carey to reach the landmark, Cummins was so focused on the chase that he unintentionally left Carey stranded. As the chase tightened, the scoreboard displayed only the runs left to win, leaving Cummins unaware of his partner’s incredible effort.

The Christchurch crowd and possibly everyone on the field recognized Carey’s approach to the milestone, except for Cummins, who has now admitted he thought Carey was “somewhere in the 80s,” and that's why the Australia wicketkeeper-batter’s approaching milestone went unnoticed.

Cummins scored the last three runs to win the game by three wickets to clean sweep the Test series in Christchurch, but the Australian captain unknowingly dashed Carey’s hopes for his only second hundred in the longest format of the game. He insisted that the “fact” is that he wasn’t aware of Carey’s milestone when he was asked about the inccident.

Yeah, that’s the fact I didn't know about that: Pat Cummins

Pat Cummins on The Grade Cricketer podcast: “Yeah, that’s the fact. But I think the screen is normally a scoreboard, but then once we started getting closer, instead of having the scores on there, it just became like 10 runs to go. I'm saying that I reckon everyone knew other than me.”

Cummins further explained, “But I wasn't; I thought he was like in his 80s or something like that. I was thinking back afterwards, and I reckon there was a stage once or twice where he was like, Mate, don't worry about it. Let's just get these runs. Like, don't worry about me. And I was like, That's a weird thing to say. Then I was just like, Oh, that's fine, okay. Sorry, but I honestly had no idea.”

Cummins gives his side of the story after leaving Carey on 98 RED in Christchurch.@smithoptics pic.twitter.com/uBKKzUHaii

— The Grade Cricketer (@gradecricketer) October 25, 2024

Pat Cummins's boundary leaves Alex Carey just short of his Test century

Speaking about that Test match, with Australia needing only two runs to clinch the second Test at Christchurch’s Hagley Oval, the decision was up to captain Pat Cummins, who was on strike, to allow Alex Carey to notch up his second Test century.

After carefully defending three deliveries, it looked like Cummins would let Carey face the next over to complete his well-deserved hundred. But the Australian captain ended the match by hitting the winning runs, frustrating fans who hoped to see Carey get his century.

Carey had an outstanding game, starting the 65th over with a four that brought him to 97, leaving Australia needing just three runs. After taking a single, Cummins took over and hit the ball for a boundary after leaving, leaving Carey just short of his century.