Brad Haddin returns from wilderness to drag Australia back into game with gem of an innings Australia's Brad Haddin celebrates his half-century on Day 1 of teh first Ashes Test at The Gabba. HISTORY insists Brad Haddin should have been watching the first day of the Ashes from a corporate box or at home on the couch. But there he was is the middle of the Gabba making a flat pitch look like the road it was, shaming his top order teammates and upgrading Australia's first innings total from miserable to modest. There are plenty of 36-year-old keepers around Australia, but many of them are those craggy-faced country cricket glovemen who have a last puff on their durry before they take the field for their Saturday afternoon away from the kids. They are not common at first class level. Normally by that age an emerging youngster who has been snapping at their heels has finally managed to wrestle the old-timer to the ground. Haddin, at 36 years and one month, is one month younger than Australian greats Adam Gilchrist and Rod Marsh were when they retired. Another great, Ian Healy, went a few months earlier. Those three all had batting form issues late in their career, which is why Haddin's 78 not out at the Gabba yesterday in his 50th Test was such a gem. It defied historical trends. At an age when Haddin could be slowing up he is constantly looking to improving himself. He has been spotted in the nets with Healy in Brisbane tuning up his glovework, making sure he stays low, keeping that old frame as well oiled as he can. His innings yesterday was a victory for the old-fashioned warrior serving in a world of younger flashier faces. England found him difficult to bowl to because unleashed off either foot. His fours including a searing drive off Chris Tremlett and a swat over midwicket off Graeme Swann. There were also cut shots and his stroke of the day, a pivoting pull over the fence off bewildered pacemen Jimmy Anderson. Wicketkeepers often bat best early in the series before the demands of their heavy workload takes its toll and Haddin's career has followed that pattern. There is a sense of live-the-moment liberation about Haddin's cricket these days because his career could easily be over. Haddin seemed destined not to play another Test when he pulled out of a West Indian tour early last year after it was confirmed his daughter Mia had cancer. Matthew Wade replaced him and when Wade held his place for last year's domestic summer it seemed Haddin's Test career was done. The Australian side lacked a hard-head to go into battle beside Michael Clarke. The decision to recall Haddin and make him vice-captain for the Ashes tour of England was one of the better decisions taken made by John Inverarity's selection panel. Haddin's international career was always going to come with many challenges because he followed the incomparable Adam Gilchrist, which was much like taking the stage after Bruce Springsteen. There was a sense that no matter what he did he would be trapped in the shadows but a Test batting average which floats around 34 is a high pass mark. Mitchell Johnson, who shared a 114-run seventh-wicket partnership with Haddin, said Haddin's impact since being recalled had been immense. "He has always done a terrific job with the gloves and bat and at times like this he stands up with his experience," Johnson said. What he has been doing around the group since he been great. He knows how people work. He is a great man to have around the team and I am very happy to play another Test match with him.