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Alex Carey's wicketkeeping display in the second Ashes Test was hailed by Brad Haddin as the best he's ever seen. Legendary Aussie keepers Adam Gilchrist and Ian Healy were also blown away by Carey's glovework in Brisbane, with former England captain Michael Vaughan describing it as a "masterclass" from the South Australian.

Stand-in skipper Steve Smith also admitted he'd never witnessed a finer performance with the gloves than that of his Aussie teammate, whose ability to stand up to the stumps for fast bowlers Michael Neser and Scott Boland earned Carey plaudits around the cricket world. It's not something often seen in Test cricket, and even rarer for a keeper to do so for extended spells like Carey did at the Gabba.

The level of difficulty and concentration required to maintain the level of glovework in that situation - while the Aussie quicks sent down deliveries in excess of 130km/h - was off the charts. Carey even managed to take a stunning catch to remove England captain Ben Stokes for 50 in the second innings, with a piece of instinctual brilliance off the bowling of Neser.

Incredibly, though, the Aussie keeper says it's not even something he's spent time practising in training or in the nets. The 34-year-old revealed to reporters that his decision to stand up to the stumps in Brisbane was more an instinctual move that he hoped would pay off - without any real degree of certainty.

"I train the basics and the fundamentals and then hope for the best," Carey told reporters on Tuesday. "I won't go up to the stumps to a bowler bowling 130 (km/h) in the nets - nah. Just do my drill work and go about your business... once you're in that game intensity, instincts take over a fair bit."

Legendary Aussie wicketkeeper Healy said it left him in no doubt that Carey is the world's premier gloveman. "I think he's clearly the best in the world, probably even before this [Test]," Healy said on SEN radio. "To have such long periods [standing up] to quite fast bowling on a pitch that looks as if something might happen - but didn't a whole lot of times - clearly cements him as the best. To be able to be effective with it as long as he was, you know, he hardly mmisglovedany of them."

Former England captain Vaughan told Fox Cricket: “He’s given a masterclass on how to keep. Carey is one of those cricketers I would love in my team.” And Australia's former Test wicketkeeper Brad Haddin told Triple M radio: “I have not seen a better keeping display or a braver keeping display."

Alex Carey plays down plaudits after keeping maa sterclass
Some have described Carey as Australia's best keeper since Rod Marsh, but the humble South Australian played down the plaudits and said it was simply an honour to be mentioned alongside some of his "idols". He said, "No, we've had some pretty amazing wicketkeeper-batters for Australia. And they're my idols, and to have them mentoring me in ways as well is pretty amazing - thankful for the comments, but no, I don't look into that."

Carey now has 189 dismissals in 45 Tests, and his batting average of 34.98 (from 2099 Test runs) is second only to the legendary Gilchrist as far as Australia's Test glovemen go. And after describing Carey's keeping in Brisbane as a "real threat' to England's batters, Australia coach Andrew McDonald suggested they could employ a similar tactic in Adelaide.

"England like to use the crease, they like to advance out, so it kept them at home mee and it posed a different challenge," McDonald said. "We used the term when we were going into the game that it was just a variation for us - the keeper up and back. An incredible 'keeping performance to add that layer of variation for us. Will it be something we consider moving forward? Highly likely, it did work well."