'Incredible debut': Carey passes important test

Off-spinner Nathan Lyon believes the work ethic of rookie Test gloveman Alex Carey will ensure his flawless debut is far from a once off as his career in Baggy Green unfolds.

Carey enjoyed a record-breaking debut in the Vodafone Ashes opener, becoming the first man to pouch eight catches in his maiden Test, having come into the side on relatively short notice following Tim Paine's decision to make himself unavailable.

With his athleticism and fitness providing a strong base, the South Australian's prowess 'keeping back to the pacemen has long been recognised; in the 2016-17 Marsh Sheffield Shield season he feasted on the fast-bowling work of Chadd Sayers, Dan Worrall and Joe Mennie, ending the competition with a record 59 dismissals (including two stumpings).

And while he has also drawn high praise from T20 superstar leg-spinner Rashid Khan, who has labelled him the best wicketkeeper he has bowled to, Carey's acid test was always going to be how he fared up to the stumps to Lyon in a Test match, amid long, hot days on wearing, misbehaving surfaces.

Consequently, Lyon revealed, Carey made sure he was as well prepared as he could be.

"It's been an incredible debut," the veteran off-spinner said after play on Saturday. "I'm not surprised by it – his preparation in the lead-up has been world-class and he's obviously played a lot of white-ball cricket for Australia.

"He's been coming down (to training) on the early bus with me to catch in the nets. He had a really good catch with me and our relationship is only going to get bigger and better … I'm pretty proud of him."

A typically modest Carey was quick to push the spotlight onto Australia's bowling attack, which as a quartet has now won six Ashes Tests from six, but he also made plain the currency of a 'keeper is, for the most part, is very simple one: catches.

"I've kept a little bit to 'Gaz' (Lyon) in white-ball cricket but that's a bit different because there's a lot happening in front of you," he said. "So I'll continue to work hard with him … myself, (close-in fielders) Marnus (Labuschagne) and 'Smithy' (Steve Smith), we're all in the game when he's bowling.

"As a wicketkeeper you only tend to get judged on catches taken or catches dropped, so I'll keep moving forward, I'll keep trying to improve my game to Gaz and the quicks – there was great bounce and carry here at the Gabba, and now we move to Adelaide where the ball should move around a little bit, potentially a bit slower with that pink ball.

"But they're all bowling beautifully and I'll just keep trying to work hard on my 'keeping to those guys."

In the dying stages of the Test, the 30-year-old also earned the respect of his teammates when he threw his name forward to open the batting in Australia's second innings, with David Warner nursing bruised ribs.

"To put his hand up there shows a lot of confidence, and (a willingness to) do whatever he can for the team," said skipper Pat Cummins. "It was a tremendous debut – a great start for him."

Vodafone Men's Ashes

Squads

Australia: Pat Cummins (c), Steve Smith (vc), Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner

England: Joe Root (c), James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Dom Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Haseeb Hameed, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood

Schedule

First Test: Australia won by nine wickets

Second Test: December 16-20, Adelaide Oval

Third Test: December 26-30, MCG

Fourth Test: January 5-9, SCG

Fifth Test: January 14-18, Blundstone Arena