Carey still smiling despite Archer blow

• The five-time winners were beaten by eight wickets at Edgbaston
• Australia made 223 but England chased it down with just under 18 overs to go

Alex Carey has the stitches to show he has bled in Australia’s cause.

Carey only made his ODI debut last January but his performances behind the stumps - and with the bat - have been a big positive of his team’s run to the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 semi-finals.

He made a career best 85 against South Africa, 71 against New Zealand and shared a vital fourth wicket partnership with Steve Smith at Edgbaston.

After a horror start, their 103-run stand meant Aaron Finch’s side were at least able to set England a target, albeit one they knocked off with just under 18 overs to spare, thanks to Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow’s blitz of boundaries.

England’s bowlers were certainly firing and Carey’s helmet was removed by a short-pitched delivery from Jofra Archer, the wicketkeeper showing lightning reaction to grab it before it fell on his stumps.

“That’s the best catch I’ve taken all World Cup,” he joked, after he was finally dismissed for 46, meaning he averaged an impressive 62.5 for the tournament.

“Jofra’s got a pretty good bumper and a few stitches is nothing to worry about.

“I didn’t really want to come in with three down that quick but it was good to grab the opportunity, Steve and I just tried to absorb the pressure and get something on the board.

“We wanted to bat first but credit to their quicks who really learned from playing us at Lord’s and it just wasn’t our day with the bat.

“We thought we’d get back in it with early wickets but Jason and Jonny soon got going and took any momentum away from us.

“If we went back 12 months not many people would have given us a chance to make the semi-finals and we’ve played some cricket to be proud of. There’s still disappointment to get here and not make the final.”

Meanwhile, Pat Cummins paid tribute to fellow bowler Mitchell Starc, who is likely to top the bowling charts with his 27 wickets securing a tournament record.

However, he admitted the Aussie pace attack were always struggling considering they were protecting a 223 total.

“It was really hard to defend a target like that, when we didn't get an early wicket it meant they were able to play with lots of freedom,” he said. “We just got beaten by a better team on the day.

“We’ve managed to win games without playing the perfect game the whole way through. Every time we finished a game we spoke about areas we could improve on but against England we just didn’t play our best."

Despite a demanding few weeks of cricket, the Australia vice-captain insists his body is holding up ahead of the Ashes summer, having taken more wickets than anyone else the last time the two rivals clashed with the red ball in 2017/18.

“Starting on the campaign you get nervous about how much cricket is ahead,” he added.

“There were a couple of busy periods, you play four games in ten days but once we got through that it was one every five or six days which you can get through ok so I’m feeling good."