‘Alex Carey has now had a haircut and paid for it’ – Steve Smith takes hilarious jibe at English media ahead of Manchester Test

Team Australia's batter Steve Smith took a rather hilarious jibe at the English media involving Alex Carey prior to the fourth Ashes Test at Old Trafford, in Manchester, on Wednesday, July 19. This comes after the owner of a barber shop in Leeds, accused Carey of refusing to pay for a haircut and walking out of his shop upon which the English media circulated reports on the same which garnered massive attention from fans. 

On that note, Smith took a sly dig at the English media as he shared a rib-tickling post after Carey got a haircut and mentioned that he had paid for it.

I can confirm that Alex Carey has now had a haircut and that he paid for it pic.twitter.com/jmNWh75D6j

— Steve Smith (@stevesmith49) July 18, 2023

“I can confirm that Alex Carey has now had a haircut and that he paid for it,” Smith posted on his Twitter handle.

Earlier, former England skipper, Sir Alastair Cook, spoke on the incident while commentating during the third Ashes Test, at Headingley, in Leeds. 

"[The barber] said, he (Alex Carey) hasn't paid. It was one of those cash-only ones, and he promised he would have a transfer later in the day, and this was just before he shut. This is a true story, I'm not making it up," Cook said while on commentary.

Carey did not take any haircut post WTC final, Cricket Australia refute Leeds barber incident

Cricket Australia (CA) did not back down from voicing their stance on the matter as they outrightly refuted the claims made by the media. In addition to this, CA stated that the cricketer had not received a haircut or visited a barber since playing the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2021-23 final against Team India in London.

Furthermore, the board confirmed that another Australian cricketer (unnamed) had visited the barber shop in Leeds and had made the payment through international transfer, in order to prove the transaction. Speaking about the Ashes, after a cooling-off period of ten days, the two arch-rivals are set to take centre-stage at Old Trafford in Manchester for the penultimate Test.

Despite losing the Headingley Test, Australia are still 2-1 up and will be gunning to clinch the series in the upcoming Test. Meanwhile, the Three Lions will need to amp up their game so as to get back on level terms in the series.