Alex Carey is relishing his role as England's pantomime villain following his controversial stumping in the last Ashes series. Australia wicketkeeper Carey sparked ugly scenes at Lord's after getting Jonny Bairstow out during the second Test in 2023.

Carey threw down the stumps after Bairstow wandered out of his crease. The England batsman wrongly presumed that the end of the over had been called after a bouncer from Cameron Green.

The ball went through to Carey, and after advice from captain Pat Cummins earlier in the over, he threw the ball at the stumps and off came the bails. Bairstow was given out and Cummins chose not to withdraw their appeal, prompting outrage among the home crowd and MCC members at Lord's.

A hostile atmosphere remained in place for the rest of the series and Carey won't mind the same again. "I want to be more involved this year, it's what you play cricket for," the 34-year-old told Australian media on Tuesday.

"Last year, we had India come out here and that was an amazing experience to play against them on home soil and to win that trophy. For us, and for me, it's our jobs to go out there and play good cricket.

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"It's going to be exciting... the Barmy Army, I think I've seen a few chants come through already, which is great. That sort of stuff just, it's in the history of the game, it will get spoken about forever. But as a player and as a playing group, you want to be in those big moments."

His stumping was undoubtedly the most memorable moment of the 2023 Ashes, and the fallout saw three men stripped of their MCC memberships for abusing the Australian team in the Lord's pavilion. The Aussies went 2-0 up after winning the Test but England fought back to draw the series 2-2.

"I try to focus pretty hard and sort of block that stuff out," Carey added. "I experienced it over in England, so hopefully the Australian crowd can sort of block out some of that noise - and we have more fans here for Australia than England.

"But it's part of the game. We love it, it's sports - totally understand there's heroes and villains. That's what Ashes cricket is all about."

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Carey also responded to comments from his old enemy Stuart Broad, who recently claimed that England will soon be facing Australia's worst Test side for 15 years. Ex-England star Broad infamously lambasted Carey just seconds after the aforementioned stumping, telling him: "That's all you'll ever be remembered for."

When told about Broad's recent comments, Carey replied: "Is that what he said, did he? We'll wait and see. We've got a really experienced cricket team who have had a lot of success over the last three, four years, five years under Patty Cummins.

"To win a World Test Championship, to retain the Ashes over there, and to make another World Test Championship last year was pretty good recognition for the success that this team has had.

"All the guys have played against Stuart in the past and we know how big a competitor he is and how much he's done for Test cricket. When you see players transition into the media, they're absolutely open to their opinions and the playing group doesn't hold any comments against anyone."

The 2025-26 Ashes begins on Friday, November 21 in Perth. Australia will be without skipper Cummins for the first Test, as he's recovering from a stress fracture in his back.