Tim Paine got five catches for his birthday and the Tasmanian skipper still believes his keeping could deliver him the biggest present of all.
Paine's 29th birthday haul included a spectacular 30-metre sprint and dive as Western Australia crashed to be all out for 258 on day one of the Sheffield Shield match at Bellerive on Sunday.
The former Test player, who suffered a career-threatening broken finger in 2010, has always maintained his glove work can set him apart from Australia's group of wicketkeeper/batsmen.
"I haven't felt at my best the last few games but I know I'm not far away with both bat and gloves," he said.
"I know when that happens, particularly with the gloves, I hold myself in a good light."
But Paine downplayed his brilliant effort to get rid of WA's Sam Whiteman (24), whose top edge was buffeted by strong winds in Hobart.
"I would have been disappointed if I didn't catch that," he said.
"(But) certainly any high ball in gusty, breezy conditions is hard to take."
The Warriors had seemingly been cruising at 2-172 as young opener Cameron Bancroft (93) and in-form skipper Adam Voges (59) put on 113 for the third wicket.
But they lost 8-86 after being sent in by Paine under grey skies.
In reply, Tasmania were 0-7 at stumps.
Voges looked in superb touch following up an unbeaten 235 against Queensland, sweetly timing nine fours before he became one of Paine's victims at 3-172, a decision the batsman looked unimpressed with.
Bancroft made his highest score but fell short of his first Shield ton when he rashly tried to hit Xavier Doherty (1-54) over the top and was caught at 5-202.
The 21-year-old said the strong winds, with wreaked havoc with the bails, had been a challenge after WA had negotiated seam-friendly conditions early.
"When the bails flew off the first time I actually thought I was going to land on my back," Bancroft said.
Tasmanian seamers Evan Gulbis (3-44) and Luke Butterworth (3-46) claimed three scalps each.
"We're a little bit disappointed with how the day ended," Bancroft said.
"We had Tasmania on the ropes there for a little bit."
