A modest Alex Carey reflected on being "pretty proud" of his performance behind the stumps in Brisbane as he was lauded as the best wicketkeeper in the world after a putting on a masterclass of glovework in the second Test.
Carey produced the finest performance of his career, with his work behind the stumps becoming a defining element at the Gabba, while scoring 63 in Australia's first innings when the game was at a tipping point late on the second day.
On the opening day he took a spectacular running catch to remove Gus Atkinson, but the most notable aspect was his keeping stood up to Michael Neser and Scott Boland which culminated in him gathering an edge off Ben Stokes on the fourth day.
There was some irony in the amount of time Carey spent standing up in this Test given Australia had left out Nathan Lyon and gone with an all-pace attack but he formed a compelling partnership with Neser in particular.
"Self-reflection, yeah, pretty proud of my efforts out there," Carey told cricket.com.au. "Thought opportunities to come up to the stumps against some really good bowling and the boys were able to beat the bat. So thought I did a good job for the team. I also thought the bowlers did an amazing job to create those chances."
Carey revealed that standing up to pace bowling is something he doesn't replicate with bowlers in training but backs his skill to take over when needed.
"I don't practice up to the stumps against fast bowling, think that probably could be a little bit dangerous at times," he said. "You work on the fundamentals of the game, and for me that's keeping up to the stumps to Nathan Lyon a lot but doing my drills in the nets with a nick bat, getting throws, trying to get in good positions.
"Then when you are in a game of cricket I feel like your instincts take over most of the time, so trusting the positions that I'm in then hoping my instinct takes over and I get into the right position to hang onto them."
Former wicketkeepers lined up in admiration of Carey four years on from when there was scrutiny over his glovework as he began his Test career in the 2021-22 Ashes.
"I think he's clearly the best in the world, probably even before this [Test]," Ian Healy said on SEN radio. "To have such long periods [standing up] to quite fast bowling on a pitch that looks as if something might happen - but didn't a whole lot of times - clearly cements him as the best. To be able to be effective with it as long as he was, you know, he hardly misgloved any of them.
On Triple M radio, Brad Haddin said: "I've not seen a better keeping display."
Captain Steven Smith, who was standing alongside Carey at slip for much of the match, including when he produced his own piece of brilliance to remove Will Jacks with arguably the finest catch of his career, said he had not seen a better display.
"That performance behind the stumps was something else," Smith said. "Ness [Neser] was getting the ball up around 137-138kph at times. Boland similar. He just gets in behind it. He finds a way to just get the ball in his hands. It hits the batter's pads and it ends up in his hands somehow.
"He works exceptionally hard. He's as fit as anyone. He just turns up day in, day out. Rarely makes a mistake and pulls off unbelievable catches.
"When I was at slip, when he was up to the stumps, I was so wide just because of how much he covers. He just gets his hands out there. It's like he knows they're going to nick it almost at times and gets his hands out there. That keeping performance was as good as I've seen."
Neser, who said after the third day's play that, as a pace bowler, he was reluctant to operate with the wicketkeeper up to the stumps earlier in his career, was quick to acknowledge the role it had played in his maiden five-wicket haul
"That wouldn't be possible without Kez [Carey], and what Steve did there at the end was special," he said. "I didn't even have to ask Kez to come up, he just does it ... to have a keeper like that is great."
Neser's comeback has emerged as one of the feelgood stories of the series after he hadn't played a Test for three years and feared his chance may have gone with a severe hamstring injury last season.
"There was a moment earlier in the season where I was just like, man, I hope he gets his chance," Marnus Labuschagne, a team-mate at Queensland, said. "Obviously a few injuries, and I saw the writing on the wall there, that there's potential [he wouldn't play again]. For him to be able to come in and deliver…maybe a bit of nerves that first innings, then to come out second innings and play that role and get five-for, I was just so happy.
"Just the work that he's put in, the body of work in Shield cricket, the consistency that he keeps delivering and delivering, and we didn't see the best of his batting either. I think that's probably the exciting part as well, is he's got a lot to offer with not only the ball, but that and his fielding, he's got five of the best catches in Big Bash."