Carey goes from Ashes villain to hero with century in Adelaide heat

ADELAIDE, Dec 17 : Hometown hero Alex Carey rode his luck to a first Ashes century to rescue Australia as England's bowlers toiled in an Adelaide Oval cauldron on a scorching opening day of the third test on Wednesday.

The wicketkeeper's 106 helped drive Australia to 326 for eight at stumps, with Mitchell Starc (33 not out) and Nathan Lyon, scoreless off 18 balls, having provided stubborn tail-end resistance.

Carey survived a caught-behind decision on 72 with the help of a glitch with the review technology before going on to score his third test century.

In front of a big family gathering in the sell-out crowd of 56,298 at his home stadium, Carey raised his bat and his head to the sky in a tribute to his father who died of leukaemia in September. 

"It was pretty special to make a hundred here in front of home fans and family, and you know why I was looking to the heavens," he said.

"I'll try not to tear up. It was a great moment.

"Dad played the biggest role in my cricket, coached me all the way through and sort of let me go as I got into my older teenage years, but (he) would always shoot a message (like) 'put the reverse sweep away'".

Carey was ably backed by Usman Khawaja, who capitalised on his late inclusion in place of an unwell Steve Smith by scoring 82 off 126 balls.

The pair combined in a crucial 91-run stand that pulled the hosts from peril after they were reduced to 94 for four straight after lunch.

Trailing 2-0 in the series, England's hopes of keeping the Ashes alive suffered an early blow when home captain Pat Cummins won the toss and put his team in to bat on a firm wicket begging for a big score.

By stumps, with the temperature still hovering around 35 degrees Celsius (95F), England's prospects appeared bleak after