Out of the deep end, Carey wrings out Test best

Even before he fell into a hotel pool fully clothed, Alex Carey arrived in Pakistan still a little wet behind the ears.

The wicketkeeper, who wrung out a crucial 93 on day two of the second Test against Pakistan in Karachi, believes his career-best knock was sparked by lessons learned during his maiden Test campaign last summer.

Thrown in the deep end when he replaced Tim Paine as Test gloveman on the eve of the Ashes, Carey concedes he too often threw his wicket away against England as he managed 183 runs at 20.33 in nine innings.

The bar had been set high for the left-hander, partly due to his predecessors' success but also partly due to his own. Since the start of the 2018-19 summer, he has averaged 44 in the Sheffield Shield while his career ODI batting average (37.19) is the highest of any Australian keeper in history.

And although the Pakistan series may not quite have been sink-or-swim, Carey's 159-ball stay that helped move Australia's first innings score above 500 was, as he put it, "reward for some hard work".

"I have all the trust in my ability, the summer was a really enjoyable summer for me and to win the Ashes the way we did was outstanding," said the 30-year-old, whose Karachi pool mishap went viral in the lead-in to the second Test.

"(But) I went away from there probably with some learnings and with some take-outs.

"I think at times I threw my wicket away, as we do as batters, so I thought today I showed a fair bit of patience."

Overlooked somewhat given the dearth of ODIs played recently, Carey has quietly established himself as one of Australia's most important 50-over players, recognised when he captained the side in their one-day series against West Indies last year.

Carey's is not a dissimilar path to a Baggy Green to the one taken by Adam Gilchrist, who bided his time for years in 50-over international cricket before eventually taking over the gloves in the Test side from Ian Healy.

Of course, none would saddle Carey with the expectation of finishing his career with 33 international hundreds and a Test average just shy of 50.

The strong batting records of the keepers who followed Gilchrist in Brad Haddin (average of 32.98 with four Test tons), Matthew Wade (28.58 as a specialist keeper with two centuries) and Paine (average of 32.63, no hundreds) may present a more achievable benchmark.

But Carey has looked closer to home for a blueprint on how to bat on the subcontinent, explaining how the approach taken by fellow left-hander Usman Khawaja since the opener returned to the Test side in January has been influential.

"He has one gear basically throughout, and he sticks to that," Carey said of Khawaja, who batted for more than nine hours in Karachi for his 369-ball 160.

"I took a fair bit – I don't know if inspiration is the right word – but I've spoken to him a lot in the past couple of weeks and he's batting beautifully.

"I just stuck to my patience out there."

Carey's dismissal to part-timer Babar Azam seven short of a hundred means the wait for a first Test century by an Australian men's keeper since Haddin's 118 during the 2013-14 Ashes goes on.

"It's a number – so close unfortunately, but that's the way it goes," he said.

"I thought I was pretty disciplined and patient throughout the day and to be honest I saw an opportunity to hit one over cow (corner) late in the day, a pretty big gap out there.

"My head will probably hit the pillow tonight and have a few other shots go through my head, but that's the beauty of this game.

"When I came back into the rooms, there was eight other blokes saying they would have played the same shot.

"I don't know if that's comfort or not, but I take a bit of confidence out of that."

Qantas Tour of Pakistan 2022

Pakistan squad: Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (vc), Abdullah Shafique, Azhar Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Fawad Alam, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Nauman Ali, Sajid Khan, Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood, Zahid Mahmood.

Australia Test squad: Pat Cummins (c), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, Mark Steketee, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner. On standby: Sean Abbott, Brendan Doggett, Nic Maddinson, Matthew Renshaw

First Test: Match drawn

March 12-16: Second Test, Karachi

March 21-25: Third Test, Lahore

Australia ODI and T20 squad: Aaron Finch (c), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Ben McDermott, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa

March 29: First ODI, Rawalpindi

March 31: Second ODI, Rawalpindi

April 2: Third ODI, Rawalpindi

April 5: Only T20I, Rawalpindi

All matches to be broadcast in Australia on Fox Cricket and Kayo Sports