Playing for keeps: Carey in box seat to succeed Paine

South Australian Alex Carey has been all but "rubber stamped" by selectors as Tim Paine's wicketkeeping successor with his call-up to the Australia Test squad for next month's Qantas tour of South Africa.

Carey will fill the role of back-up gloveman against the Proteas, as selector Trevor Hohns reaffirmed the national selection panel's faith in Paine, the incumbent 'keeper and captain who came under heavy criticism at the back-end of Australia's recent 2-1 series defeat to India.

And with 33-year-old Matthew Wade overlooked (he was instead selected for the T20I tour of New Zealand), the path now appears as clear as ever for Carey's ascension into a role noted for its long-term occupants in recent Australian history.

Hohns today explained that the 29-year-old's international white-ball career had at least in part been played out with a view to plotting a path for him into the Test set-up, and now with his inclusion in a Test squad for the first time, he is in the box seat to ultimately replace the 36-year-old Paine.

"Alex Carey's been obviously on our radar for some time,” Hohns said. “He's played limited-overs cricket for (Australia) and we thought that was the ideal pathway for him to get to Test match level.

"Alex over the last 12-18 months has got better and better as a player, so I think our thinking is reasonably clear there without actually rubber-stamping it, if I can put it that way."

Carey performed outstandingly during the 2019 World Cup to cement his place in Australia's ODI set-up, then hit two hundreds in four Marsh Sheffield Shield matches while averaging 55 before Christmas. Owing to his white-ball commitments with the national side and in the IPL, the left-hander has only played one first-class match since, taking four catches and making 32 and 58 for Australia A against the touring Indians in Sydney last month. He hopes circumstances and scheduling allow him to sneak in another Shield fixture with the Redbacks before flying out to South Africa next month.

Carey last week blasted the second century of his KFC BBL career and Hohns said there was no reason to omit him from the race to fill the No.5 slot left vacant by Wade, whose return to Test cricket showed the selectors' willingness to pick a gloveman in a batting-only role.

"We won't be able to fly players in and out (of South Africa due to COVID19) so we need to have all bases covered," he added.

"Alex is there definitely as a back-up wicketkeeper (but) the current form he's in with the bat doesn't exclude him from possibly playing a role in the batting line-up if required."

With 72 Australia caps in limited-overs cricket, Carey is well versed with what to expect on the international stage, but he conceded he will still be very much feeling his way in South Africa, where Australia return for a Test series for the first time since the ball-tampering scandal of 2018.

"Being a part of this series will give me lots of experience being around Test cricket – I haven't been in the changerooms for a Test match, so I'm really keen just to soak all that in … learn as much as possible, learn from Tim (Paine)," he said. 

"I've had lots of chats (with selectors) along the way and I guess this is a little step closer … I guess being part of a series means the selectors have you in mind for something hopefully down the track.

"That's the way I see it; I'm a part of my first Test squad, which is really exciting, (and) hopefully it means I'm a step closer to having a dream come true and playing Test cricket."