It was the morning of December 8, 2021, and Ian Healy was sat in his radio commentary box at the Gabba. Down below him on the ground was Alex Carey going through his warm-ups some 20 minutes before officially making his Test debut. Healy was quietly analysing Carey's wicket-keeping technique. He'd speak about how the South Australian would need to work on the softening of his hands further at the point of collection, along with the movement of his left leg in relation and a number of other intricacies that only his highly learned eyes, probably the best in cricket when it comes to his art form, can pick up.

One day short of four years later, on December 7, 2025, Healy was literally jumping off his seat in the same radio commentary box at the Gabba. The Queensland legend was if anything muscling his way into the expert's chair and putting on his headset so that he could tell the world that we had just witnessed one of the greatest catches in Test history. And he didn't mean the one-handed piece of magic that Steve Smith had pulled out of thin air recently.

It was instead the stunner that Carey had snared subsequently while being stood up to the stumps to Michael Neser's fast mediums off Ben Stokes' outside edge. An ecstatic Healy would highlight the difficulty level of the catch while breaking down the technical genius that Carey had displayed to hang on to it. All while continuing to sing the praises of the 34-year-old's performance in probably the most challenging setting for a wicket-keeper. So much so that he'd even go on to compare Carey to the late great Australian, Don Tallon, who is considered the best to have kept up to the stumps to fast bowling, in the post-World War II era, during the late 1940s to mid 1950s. Healy then crowned Carey as also being the best in the business currently.

Healy wasn't the only one showering his fellow wicket-keeper with serious acclaims. Next door in another radio box, Brad Haddin was equally buoyant about the show Carey was putting on at the Gabba.

And later that day, as Australia went 2-0 ahead in the Ashes, Adam Gilchrist would post a selfie with Carey with the caption reading "Wicket-keeping porn".

Carey's day under the sun, and briefly under the lights, had finally arrived; in what is his 45th Test, as the only player to have appeared in every Test that Australia have played since his debut.

On a day he was accepted and welcomed upon the altar of the greats as one of their own by Australia's wicket-keeping royalty, the affable left-hander from Adelaide was also acknowledged by the wider cricket world as being the best gloveman in the world. From all quarters and with no debate.

It's a longstanding Australian belief that the Test captain's job is only second behind the Prime Minister of the country. And often it is the captains who define their respective generations and time periods. It's the same with the wicket-keepers too. Only in the last 50 years, Australian Test cricket has gone from the Rod Marsh era spanning the 70s and 80s to the Ian Healy era through the 90s to the Adam Gilchrist era at the turn of the millennium to the Brad Haddin era through the noughties. After a brief fling with Tim Paine at the helm, both as wicket-keeper and captain, it's safe to say that we're now officially in the Alex Carey era.

It's all credit to Carey and the incredible work he's put into his keeping during his time as a Test cricketer. Whether it's in the swinging and seaming conditions of England, the turning pitches of the subcontinent or the pace and bounce on home soil in Australia.

Carey has looked a better 'keeper almost in every outing, in every aspect, from his neatness with the gloves to the fluidity in his movement with the feet and the incredible anticipation which has now become a trademark.

All once again due to the enormous volume of work he's put into his craft. Carey is often the first man at the stadium before the start of each day for every Test. Accompanied by assistant coach Andre Borovec, an ace gloveman himself for years with Geelong in Victorian Premier Cricket, you'll see Carey go through his regimented routines tirelessly. Even if he's had a hard toil on the field the previous day or even if he's unbeaten overnight with a three-figure score as he was in Galle earlier this year. No excuses. No off days.

It's the same amount of work he puts in during Sheffield Shield matches as well with former national coach Tim Nielsen, the man helping him out most times. Carey's also not shy of picking the brains of his counterparts or others of his ilk from different countries in his quest to constantly try and get better. Those close to Carey consider it to be part of his holistic make-up and recall how he was the same as an Aussie rules footballer and also as a junior cricketer once he made a serious return to cricket field in his early 20s.

And it's shown in his rapid evolution as a 'keeper across the globe. Carey did have his struggles with missed stumpings and an overall inconsistency with the gloves in the early stages, especially on his first tour of Sri Lanka in 2022. Exposed to rank turners for the first time in his career, it took him a while to come to grips with this unique challenge. He was a lot better eight months later in India and by the time he returned to Sri Lanka in 2025, he didn't simply look the part, he looked to have mastered the task at hand.

There's also the element of how much work he's put into developing a relationship with Nathan Lyon. At the point where Carey made his unexpected arrival on the Test stage, Lyon had often spoken about how much the vital role that Carey's predecessor, Tim Paine, had played in the off-spinner's success.

So, Carey began shadowing Lyon during training sessions from his very first with the Australian Test team in Brisbane four years ago, making sure he kept to him in the nets but also on the wickets on the square in the middle. It's a bond that's grown significantly since then, and which reached a new level when Lyon officially passed on the duties of championing the team song to Carey in the Caribbean a few months ago.

Carey's batting returns too have improved dramatically in the last two years after a brief run of low scores which threatened to put his place in the team under a cloud. Carey has averaged close to 48 since his match-winning knock in Christchurch in February 2024, and his overall Test average sits at 34.98. There's rarely been a Test win in this period where Carey hasn't produced a vital knock, often a momentum-altering one.

And with his masterclass at the Gabba, he now has his statement piece. One that not only captured the imagination, and won the hearts, of his illustrious predecessors, but also officially launched him into the highest echelons of Australian Test wicket-keepers. Welcome to the Alex Carey era.