Sri Lanka vs Australia test match: Why Australia is finally falling in love with Mr Nice Guy Alex Carey

His 156 on a turning pitch in Galle wasn’t simply the highest score for an Australian wicketkeeper in Asia. It was one of the best knocks an Aussie batter has produced in these conditions.

There’s so much to like about Alex Carey. Australia simply hasn’t learnt to love him yet. Not to the extent we do in South Australia. Not in the same unabashed way we do in Adelaide.

And how could you not. It’s not just the way he plays his cricket. It’s the way he is. The nicest man on the field. The nicest man on tour. The ultimate team player. The ultimate teammate.

Someone who tries his best to make everything about his colleagues. Even when it’s his moment. Even when the spotlight is on him.

“Hey Kez, that was some knock from you, today. Must have felt good?”

“Oh yeah, thank you so much. But being at the non-striker’s end to watch Smudge make his 36th ton was even better.”

And yes, he actually does thank every journalist for their question, especially if it’s even remotely complimentary towards him. It’s not that he doesn’t take pride in his own performances. It’s more that he just wants to highlight everyone around him. Not someone you want to take home simply to introduce to your parents. But to everyone at home. Your sibling, aunt, uncle, grandparent, even the neighbour, will all love him. They’ll all want a piece of him.

Australia's captain Steve Smith and Carey put together a massive partnership.

It’s been a pretty steady Test career to date for Carey since he took over the gloves from Tim Paine at the start of the 2021-22 Ashes at home. He’s had moments both in front of the stumps and behind them. There was the maiden century at the MCG during his second home summer that cemented him further as the premier wicketkeeper. There were vital knocks in the World Test Championship Final against India and in the early stages of the 2023 Ashes in England. Then came the 98 not out in the run chase at Christchurch last year before important contributions during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

But he still needed a statement piece. A knock that would highlight his standing as the No.1 man with the gloves for Australia and one of the best glovemen of his era in the world.

And Carey finally has it. His 156 on a turning pitch in Galle wasn’t simply the highest score for an Australian wicketkeeper in Asia. It was one of the best knocks an Aussie batter has produced in these conditions in Asia. And by the time he was done, the 33-year-old had finished with the highest batting average – at 43.83 – for an Australian wicketkeeper in Asia. And in a country where Australia haven’t won a rubber since 2011.

That should in all likelihood also put to rest the few voices that have brought up Carey’s continued run in the role ever since Josh Inglis began knocking on the selectors’ door. And those who immediately took it as a sign that Carey would be put on notice when Inglis got his Test ton on debut. That his place in the team was automatically under a cloud. That Inglis’s remarkable first outing meant Australia had to find a way to keep him in the side, even if it was at the expense of Carey.

While the 156 in his 39th Test may count as a career-defining performance, it is Carey’s continued development into a world-class keeper that has made him an invaluable member of this Test team.

Carey has been the first man out to the middle on each day as soon as the Australian team gets to the stadium in Galle. He’s then proceeded to go through his wicketkeeping routines and drills for nearly 40 minutes daily under the watchful eyes of assistant coach Andre Borovec, who deserves a lot of credit a well.

Carey has grown into his role as Australia’s no.1 gloveman.

Like he did once again on Saturday morning. Despite the fact he had batted for nearly four hours in sultry conditions the previous day and was still unbeaten on 139. If ever he needed to take a morning off, this would have been the one. But there he was sticking with his 40-minute ritual with his keeping gloves and pads on before retiring to the dressing-room to put on his batting gloves and pads on to resume his innings.

No wonder his century in Galle was so popular among his teammates. No wonder he’s such a highly valued member of this Australian setup.

Carey is also the one who looks after those around him. I remember an evening in Perth a few years ago when some of the senior players in the team were joking around at the expense of Cameron Green about the impending IPL auction and how it might change the young West Australian’s life. It was Carey who stood by Green, defending him, and even jesting about how they had to look out for each other in their own “No.6-No.7” community.

That was Carey in a nutshell. Incidentally, the South Australian was asked about why he hasn’t been able to develop the kind of cult status generally bestowed upon Test wicketkeepers in Australia, from Rod Marsh, Ian Healy to Adam Gilchrist.

“I don’t think I’m loved in England. Here in Australia, I had a few pats on the back when I came home. So, yeah, I think I’m more loved here,” he said in that unassuming fashion.

Carey’s feats with bat and behind the stumps of late have him now being discussed in the same breath as Gilchrist and Marsh, at least in terms of stats and numbers. All while Australia is slowly beginning to fall in love with him.