Haddin believes Nevill is clearly the best gloveman in the country and wants to see national selectors stick with him long-term in the five-day arena, with Matthew Wade to retain the job in the limited-overs formats.

While Nevill's rise effectively ended Haddin's Test career, the pair are close. Haddin did not comment on the circumstances leading to his Ashes dumping other than to quip he would buy Michael Clarke's Ashes Diary, which brought the topic back to the public agenda last week.

Nevill beat a long list of contenders to replace Haddin behind the stumps. While he has been rock solid with the gloves in his six Tests, modern-day wicketkeepers are judged as much for their form with the bat and he is yet to play the dominant innings to put daylight between him and Wade, who is out for four to six weeks with injury.

Haddin, however, has no concerns about Nevill's prowess with the bat, based on his form as a middle-order player in the Sheffield Shield for NSW. Although Wade is considered to be the more dynamic batsman, the Test incumbent boasts a marginally higher first-class average.

Nevill has not been required to do much with the bat this summer though the value of his 35 in the second innings in Perth has been underestimated, as he came in with the door still ajar for the Black Caps. "He'll get his chance. You only have to look at his record in state cricket, he's a fighter and can bat long periods of time," Haddin said. "He understands his game well and his performances with NSW have been outstanding with the bat," Haddin said.

"I like his wicketkeeping, it's first class and everything he brings to the team – the toughness and putting the team first – he's got the great characteristics of being a really good Australian wicketkeeper."

Nevill turned 30 last month but is still young enough to comfortably play 50 Tests. Haddin did not debut until he was 30 and played 67 Tests, the fourth most for an Australian wicketkeeper behind Ian Healy, Rod Marsh and Adam Gilchrist.

Australia are scheduled to play 42 Tests between now and the end of 2019, according to the International Cricket Council's Future Tours Program.

Haddin said Nevill's glove work against New Zealand has been flawless.

"The one thing you want from your keeper is they go unnoticed and he did," Haddin said. "He's got a tremendous work ethic, he's a great person and being exposed at that highest level he's only going to get better. In the first two Tests I thought he was outstanding. I thought his glove work was perfect, his feet were strong, I thought he had a really good Test and I'm really looking forward to seeing him in Adelaide."

Competition for Nevill's Test berth will come from Wade while Western Australia's Sam Whiteman is the top pick of the next generation. "But I think Nev's the one they've got to catch at the moment in Test cricket and Wadey's the one they've got to catch in one-day cricket," Haddin said.

"It's good to have competition for spots. Those two at the moment are doing a really good job."