Sitting at the top of the Sheffield Shield run-scorers list going in to a massive Test series is a good place for Australian keeper Alex Carey to be and his teammate and great friend Travis Head doesn’t think he’s ever batted better.

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Australian selectors turned the pressure up on Carey by adding fellow keeper Josh Inglis to the Test squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, reward for his own blistering batting for Western Australia which included back-to-back centuries.

Carey though has answered in kind, with two hundreds of his own for South Australia among his 472 Shield runs through six innings, averaging 90, as well as another 117 runs in three one-day innings leading in to the first Test in Perth.

“It’s the best form he’s been in,” Head said.

“So for him, it’s trying not to overplay it and not worry about too much. I know he’s not. I think he’s in a great space. Has been for a while and now it’s starting to click for him. And once you sort of capture that form, you want to try to continue it on again.

“You’re never guaranteed that that happens, but I think he’s going to play a huge role in his position and in this team.”

Carey himself said the addition of Inglis, an ODI and T20 regular, to the Test squad, was of no concern with suggestions they could even play in the same team, with Carey hanging on to the gloves.

But he knows about the inferred pressure to remain No. 1 keeper.

“I understand it’s a unique position to be in,” Carey said. “There’s one wicketkeeper in a team, and there’s lots of quality around the country who are trying to get that spot and I was one of those players once. You focus on your game. You control what you can control.

“For me, it’s doing my job for this team, hopefully help us win games of cricket and play in this Test team as long as possible.”

Carey said his golden run of form came after “mucking around” with things during a long layoff between Test matches over the summer, allowing him to refine his technique to get better.

“When you play and play and play, you don’t really get a chance to work on too many things,”

“Not having games coming up for a while, I’ve just mucked around a little bit with my hands and found something that felt good and sort of ran with that.

“It’s only slight, but at the moment, it feels like I’m in a good position and reacting pretty well to the ball. But I think just a bit of time off and a bit of exploring gives you those opportunities.

“I think, at times, potentially getting out in ways with premeditation, which can happen, and trying to do too many things at once. I’m just trying to stay quite clear now and react to the ball and back yourself to make the right decision.”