In a shocking but hilarious moment, former England captain Alastair Cook claimed on commentary during the ongoing Ashes Test at Headingley that Australian wicketkeeper Alex Carey didn’t pay the barbershop after getting a haircut in Leeds.

Subsequently, Cricket Australia refuted the claims and stated that Carey hasn’t had a haircut at all. Rather, it was another player from the touring party who went to the barbershop for a haircut.

CA also mentioned that the cricketer didn’t pay via cash but through international transfer instead. The player will also return with a receipt to clarify the matter.

Meanwhile, British newspaper The Sun interviewed an employee of the barbershop who claimed: “We don’t accept cards, and Alex said he had no cash on him. Maybe he forgot. I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt, but if it’s not paid by Monday, I won’t be happy.”

Amid the confusion over the matter, Australia’s star batter Steve Smith on Saturday (July 8) took to the new platform Threads, where he accused The Sun for falsely reporting on the story.

“I can confirm that Alex Carey has not had a haircut since we were in London. Get your facts right The Sun,” wrote Smith on the app.

It is worth mentioning here that the British media is treating Alex Carey as a villain for his controversial stumping of Jonny Bairstow in the second Ashes Test at Lord’s.

During the 52nd over of England’s second innings, Bairstow ducked a short delivery from Cameron Green and almost instantly left his crease assuming that the ball was dead.

However, Carey was alert behind the stumps as the Australian wicketkeeper collected the ball and hit the stumps in one go to catch Bairstow well outside his crease.

The Australians appealed and the decision was referred to the third umpire Marais Erasmus, who did not take much time to declare Bairstow out.

Following the incident, the English media and their former cricketers slammed the Australian team for not keeping with the spirit of the game.