Josh Inglis never thought he had the brawn to pack a power punch in white ball cricket.
But an innovative change in March, which is an indicator to the Western Australian’s healthy appetite for runs, might just be enough for the wicketkeeper-batter to cement a spot at first drop as Australia seeks to wrest back the T20 World Cup next February.
Should the 30-year-old’s development as a red ball batter continue in the infancy of the Sheffield Shield season, Inglis could well be an extremely busy man over the next 12 months given his potential as a triple threat for Australia.
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Inglis sent out a red alert on Wednesday about his powerhouse potential when smashing the retiring West Indian fast bowler Andre Russell for a massive six on the first ball of his unbeaten 78 off 33 balls in Australia’s T20 victory in Jamaica.
For a man who has used his cricket bat as a 360 degree protractor, working all angles of the ground to score his runs, blasting a ball on to the roof of Sabina Park in the infancy of Australia’s successful run chase understandably raised eyebrows.
As Inglis himself said to cricket.com.au; “I was trying to hide my smile a bit because I don’t usually hit bombs like that.”
But make no mistake. It may have seemed out-of-character but it was not a fluke. This was by design. It is too far to say this was the introduction to ‘Inglis. Mark II’. But it is another example of a cricketer tinkering with his technique in order to maximise his potential.
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THE CHANGE
Inglis was riding high when he arrived in India for the most recent edition of the IPL with the Punjab Kings.
After being on the fringe of Test selection for a couple of years, he seized his chance with a century on debut against Sri Lanka in Galle, identifying himself as a prospect to watch with the Ashes on the horizon at the tail-end of 2025.
He had become a consistent white ball performer for Australia after winning a spot in the ODI team in the infancy of its successful run to the 2023 World Cup in India when replacing Alex Carey as the wicketkeeper.
But just as Carey used that demotion as the catalyst to refine his technique last year, which has led to a superb run of form for his nation in Test cricket, Inglis determined there were areas of his game he could improve on. Adding power was one factor.
As cricket.com.au outlined after his superb innings on Wednesday, by tweaking the direction of his bat lift, he has been able to bolster the power with which he strikes the ball, which in turn has led to a significant increase in his strike rate.
A pictorial display highlights the change. Midway through last year, when his strike rate had dipped from a high of 155.3 in 2021 to 145.3, the top of his bat lift had his blade pointing back over the direction of middle and leg stump.
Under the direction of the Ricky Ponting-led Punjab Kings, the Sandgroper refined the bat lift, which now peaks with the bat pointing in the direction of middle to off stump, or towards first slip.
The five sixes he struck against the West Indies on Wednesday continues a trend that has him clearing the boundary more this year than in any other season. Inglis, who cemented a spot in the Kings line-up this season, has a strike rate of 176.4 this year.
“It’s just something I identified during the IPL with just a little bit of a shift in my stance and where my hands go,” Inglis told the Cricket Australia website.
“Now I feel like my hands are out here (to the off-side) a bit more, so I’m able to swing through the line of the ball more, so it’s a lot easier to access down the ground, which I sort of struggled with in the past. It feels like it’s working and it’s coming off.”
THE FUTURE
There is much for Inglis to consider with a view to the next 12 months highlighted by two massive targets - the Ashes and the T20 World Cup being held in India and Sri Lanka in February and March, 2026.
Australia has a chance to wrap up the five game T20 series against the West Indies with a victory in St Kitts, which will host the final three matches, on Saturday morning in an encounter beginning at 9am AEST.
Inglis is firm in his determination that, after a career in which he has moved up and down the order, he would love to cement his spot at No.3. He has batted there one dozen times in 31 T20 innings for his country, but never for more than four matches in a row.
“I have been at the top of the order, I have been in the middle, (but) it’s definitely nicer up the top with the hard ball and field up. Hopefully I can make three my own. I have really enjoyed it there,” Inglis told ESPN.
He has the chance to secure his spot through the Australian winter and spring. Aside from the three matches against the West Indies, Australia faces South Africa in three T20s and three ODIs in the top end and far North Queensland next month.
The Aussies then host India in ODIs in Perth, Adelaide and Sydney in mid-October before another five game T20 series in Canberra, Melbourne, Hobart, the Gold Coast and Brisbane later that month and in early November.
Given his status as wicketkeeper, he appeals as a certain starter for the World Cup. But if he can fire at No.3, and continue to score at his current rate, it will help Australia in its bid to reclaim a trophy it last held in 2021.
AND WHAT ABOUT THE ASHES AND BEYOND?
Given his status as a World Cup certainty, there is another factor at play.
With Australia’s selection hierarchy making it clear that Sheffield Shield form will be strongly considered when it comes to selecting the squad for the Ashes, it may be that Inglis is given the opportunity to shine for Western Australia instead in the infancy of the season.
There is a clean window at the start of October, with Western Australia to host New South Wales from October 4.
But domestic duties then clash with the short-form series against India, with WA scheduled to play in Tasmania from October 15 before hosting South Australia from October 28.
Inglis, clearly, is in Australian calculations for the Ashes, even if he failed to fire in his one-off appearance in the West Indies.
It is worth noting that batting at No.4 prior to Steve Smith’s return from injury in Bridgetown in late June, he was scarcely on his own given the torrid time the top order experienced.
Similarly to his white ball career, Inglis has been thrown about the order in his brief Test career to date.
When making his century, he batted at No.5. In the following Test, he made a duck when moved to No.6 at a time when Australia was already in a dominant position.
In the West Indies, he arrived with Australia at 2-14 in the first innings and 2-34 in the second dig. Although he did not seize the chance, Inglis probably would have have missed out in the second Test given the availability of Smith.
Where he bats in the infancy of the domestic season will be fascinating. New South Wales coach Greg Shipperd was adamant last October that Inglis was more than capable of opening the batting in Test cricket, labelling him a “right handed version of David Warner”.
“His performances for Australia have been first-class, and I think they’re looking for a style of player at the top of the order, and Inglis may fit that brief,” Shipperd said.
“He’s a right-handed version of David Warner, in terms of someone who wants to get on with the play and he’s got strokes all around the wicket. He’s played at the level internationally, and I think he’s a well-respected player.”
Shoehorning a player into a position can backfire, as Nathan McSweeney discovered last summer, though England does not have a Jasprit Bumrah among its battery of fast bowlers.
While Cameron Green, who batted superbly alongside Inglis on Wednesday, did enough in his last two Tests against the West Indies to ensure he starts at No.3 against England, the opening conundrum remains.
Could it prove the position Inglis, who has captaincy credentials, is waiting for? It shapes as a fascinating start to the Sheffield Shield.
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