The rise and rise of Josh Inglis, the new Aussie skipper

by Admin
November 9, 2024

When Perth Scorchers and Western Australia went hunting a gloveman to replace the injured Sam Whiteman and banned Cam Bancroft in late 2017, coach Justin Langer turned to wicket-keeping specialist Damon Rowan.

“He said ‘what are your thoughts’ and I just said l like Inglis. He has just got something about him, he has got this presence and he demands the ball,” Rowan said.

It’s the gut-feel selection that kickstarted the career of an Australian captain.

Now Josh Inglis, who played six games that summer as a 22 year-old, has been named to lead his country for the first time in four matches, starting in Australia’s one-day international against Pakistan in Perth on Sunday.

“The rest is history after that,” Rowan told The West Australian.

“I just thought there was something about this kid and how he goes about it.”

Inglis was named Australia’s stand-in captain for the final ODI of the series in his home State and three Twenty20 internationals, with Pat Cummins preparing for the Test summer and both Mitch Marsh and Travis Head on paternity leave.

At Optus Stadium he will become the sixth West Australian to lead the country in a 50-over match. Kim Hughes, Geoff Marsh, Adam Gilchrist, Mike Hussey and Marsh have come before him.

Selection chair George Bailey, who joked with the English-born keeper he would have to work on his Australian accent, believes his lack of captaincy experience for his State will be no hurdle.

National staff picked him to lead an Australia A side against West Indies in 2022.

It is understood when Aaron Hardie deputised for Scorchers skipper Ashton Turner last summer, despite Inglis’ role as vice-captain, being a wicket-keeping captain in the mile-a-minute world of T20 was part of the decision.

But those close to the 29-year-old have never doubted his ability to do the job.

“I think it comes down to commitment and work ethic, I think his work ethic is second-to-none and I think what he’s like around the group, he’s just a well-liked, well-rounded and pretty measured sort of guy,” Rowan, who has worked with Inglis his entire professional career, said.

“In any environment that would shine through. He has got really good tactical nous so from a captaincy point-of-view I think he could just walk into that.

“I think being a keeper, too, he reads the game pretty well and he’s in the best position. That holds him in good stead.

“He has been playing for Australia a lot over the past few years and he is in a pretty good position to see the game and see it unfold.”

Josh Inglis of Australia bats. Credit: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

The young player pushing for a State gig Rowan describes is still demanding the ball and trying to change matches. It’s what he feels will make him a good leader.

“I haven’t done a heap of it in the recent past, but I think as a wicket-keeper you are always looking for ways to influence the game and you are always looking for ways to change the game and I don’t like seeing the game go flat, I like to keep it moving and try and be creative,” Inglis said.

“There are a lot of guys missing, preparing for the Test summer and we have got quite a young group as well, so I’m just really happy to be appointed.”

WA captains Ashton Turner and Whiteman turn to Inglis often in the field. He is the latest of a growing family tree of leaders in WA cricket that have worked under Langer, Adam Voges, Shaun Marsh and Turner.

In an interview with The West last summer, Turner revealed the State program had an under-the-radar leadership group that was “not something we advertise publicly”.

“You would be amazed how big that group is and how many leaders we have in the group that maybe, if you were a fan watching from home watching, you might not recognise.”

New South Wales coach Greg Shipperd became an unlikely advocate for Inglis when he put his name forward for a spot in the Test team this summer.

Inglis has never opened the batting in red-ball cricket and suggestions he could do it against India were quickly snuffed out. But he sits firmly on the radar.

While his batting — including two centuries and back-to-back player-of-the-match awards in three Sheffield Shield matches — speaks for itself, Rowan says Inglis is one of the best in the world behind the stumps.

He is taking balls so well that when he shelled a rare catch at training recently, new first-class wicket-keeper Joel Curtis told him “it’s nice to see you’re human”.

“I think he is one of the best gloveman going around, and that’s not just nationally it’s internationally,” Rowan said.

“He doesn’t make too many errors, he is very consistent, he is very strong. We talk about just being powerful, he is probably one of the most powerful ‘keepers you’ll watch.

“Keeping at the WACA to spin the last couple of years has been really tough and then white-ball cricket in the sub-continent he has done really well as well.

“He is at the top of his game from a keeping point-of-view and I think that, as a keeper-batsman, it balances each other out. If you’re keeping well you generally bat well.”