It was probably no surprise that the Headingley crowd noted Alex Carey's arrival at the crease with a reception not dissimilar to last year, although they kept their shoes on this time.
Fourteen months ago Carey arrived in Leeds as public enemy No. 1 after his (perfectly legal) part in Jonny Bairstow's stumping at Lord's. It was a difficult match for Carey who fell for 8 and 5; team-mates have since revealed their concern for him at the time, while Carey has spoken of the vital role his family played and also his anger that they were drawn into the abuse.
"Look, it's never nice hearing things spoken about yourself, but more importantly [I had an issue with] the personal attacks on my family," he recently told the ABC. "It was unwarranted and disappointing to see that."
A mid-September ODI provided much lower stakes than the heat of one of the most hotly contested Ashes series in recent memory, but Carey came away the winner in every sense on Saturday having played the defining hand in Australia's 68-run win.
"I was aware of it [the crowd] but it's business as usual," Carey said after being named Player of the Match. "As soon as you get into your routine you block out as much as you can and you start to get into your innings. I think [for] most batters, a lot of that noise disappears and you are quite focused, and that's the position I like to get into. It's one of those things, isn't it. I think Smudge [Smith] gets it all the time, I was prepared to get it today. It happened. So fair play."
Carey forged a last-wicket stand of 49 with Josh Hazlewood which changed the complexion of the game, finishing with 74 off 67 balls in his first innings since the Test series against New Zealand in March - which, coincidently, finished with him playing a matchwinning hand with 98 not out in Christchurch. He had spent time with Los Angeles Knight Riders in MLC in July but didn't get a game.
And this was a match he wasn't expected to be playing. Carey lost his ODI spot after one game of last year's World Cup in India when Josh Inglis replaced him. Inglis is viewed as a key part of Australia's white-ball future but picked up a quad injury in the second T20I against England and has sat out the start of the ODIs, creating the opportunity for Carey.
Carey walked in on the back of Marnus Labuschagne's wicket and soon saw Mitchell Marsh and Glenn Maxwell depart to leave Australia 161 for 6. He added a lively 55 with Aaron Hardie before three more quick wickets had the visitors 221 for 9 in the 37th over. Carey was on 32 off 29 balls and looking likely to be stranded. But he marshalled things superbly alongside Hazlewood, turning down singles until late in the over and picking his moments to find the boundary.
"[It's] probably the longest break I've had since I've played professional cricket and to spend that time with the family, two young kids, it brings a lot of energy back to you," he said. "I've had a fair bit of time just to bat in the nets and I haven't done that for a while. To get back into the game scenario is great. Although it's been close to six months it doesn't feel that long. Once you get out there and the competitive juices come back it feels like just the other day.
"The situation required a bit of batting for a while and then the way Hoff stuck around, he does a great job at doing that."
Marsh felt Australia had been a little short with 270 but was delighted with how the team fought. "It really goes to show those little partnerships towards the back end with your tailenders are vitally important in days like today," he said. "A real credit to Kez [Carey] coming back in and Hoff hanging around for a beautiful four not out."
Carey added to his impressive outing with a slick leg-side catch, diving full length to his left, that removed Liam Livingstone and left Hardie on a hat-trick. "Not a nice way to get out, but nice to be the keeper when you hold onto them," he said.
A few minutes earlier at the post-match presentation Carey was asked about potentially just keeping Inglis' seat warm. "He's a great young player, he showed that in T20 series' earlier this tour," he said. "I've sat on the bench the last little period for the Australian team in ODIs and it's nice to get back out. An opportunity popped up; who knows how long I'll last but it's been great fun."
Probably a bit more fun than his last visit to Headingley.