With Josh Inglis and Alex Carey both absent for the series opener against India, the WA-turned-NSW keeper grabbed his chance
At times over the past two years, Josh Philippe has wondered if he’d ever get another chance at international level. But not even he could have scripted it better when arrived on Sunday in Perth.
While he switched states to NSW last year having been behind Josh Inglis in Western Australia, Perth is still home for the 28-year-old gloveman.
And after playing his first 15 one-day and T20 internationals overseas, including 13 of those in bio-secure bubbles during the Covid pandemic, Philippe said it was a special moment to earn his first Australian cap on home soil in front of family and friends in his native city.
Playing a home international wasn’t the only new experience for Philippe on Sunday as he also took the gloves for Australia for the first time and batted in an unfamiliar role at No.4.
Two excellent catches diving down the leg side calmed the nerves early before his 37 runs from 29 balls steadied the run chase in a crucial 55-run stand with captain Mitch Marsh to help Australia ease home by seven wickets with 29 balls to spare.
With Marsh and Travis Head locked in as Australia’s opening pair in both white-ball sides for the foreseeable future, national selectors are likely to be keeping a close eye on wicketkeepers who can bat in the middle order.
First-choice gloveman Josh Inglis – currently on the mend from a calf strain – has batted at No.5 and No.3 respectively for Australia’s ODI and T20 sides in recent times.
Philippe meanwhile, has been predominantly at the top of the order for WA and now NSW in 50-over cricket, as well as Sydney Sixers in the Big Bash. He is the BBL’s fourth most prolific opener in the competition’s history with 2,194 runs in his 101 matches.
He concedes he hasn’t batted a lot in the middle order during his limited-overs career but believes his game is in a good place to take on the challenge.
“If the opportunity is to come for me, it’s in the middle order (for Australia),” Philippe told cricket.com.au in Adelaide ahead of the second ODI, where he faces being squeezed out of the XI by the return of Test wicketkeeper Alex Carey.
“I certainly pride myself on being adaptable.
“All my opportunities in domestic cricket are generally at the top, and I’m quite happy to bat there as well.
“The dream is to keep playing for Australia and I want to be in this team, so wherever the opportunity comes, I think my game is well enough equipped now to perform.”
Despite playing regularly for WA with Inglis often away on international duties, Philippe said the move to NSW had been the fresh start he needed.
He averaged 45 in the one-day format for NSW last season, up from 30.5 in his final year with WA. His Sheffield Shield form also on the rise having averaged 32.79 in his first season with the Blues compared to 15.7 in his final two years based in the west.
He’s also been in excellent touch for Australia A this year with red-ball centuries against England Lions (in January) and India A (last month), as well as scoring 85 against Sri Lanka A in July.
“It’s been a really nice fresh start for me,” the right-hander said of his move to NSW ahead of the 2024-25 season.
“There’s a lot of continuity in the staff through the Sixers as well, so it was a nice welcome into the environment with a lot of familiar faces there.
“Ultimately why I made the decision (was to be a first-choice keeper) … I certainly feel like it’s helped my career.”
Despite the prospect of missing out for the second ODI on Thursday, Philippe said he’s “sitting in the wings and ready to go” when his next opportunity comes.
“‘Kez’ (Carey) and ‘Ingo’ (Inglis) are exceptional players. It was just really special to get that opportunity the other night and with the gloves,” he said.
“There’s a lot of familiar faces in that team and ‘Bison’ (Marsh) as skipper, that made me feel pretty relaxed and backed in.”
Australia v India ODIs 2025
Australia squad: Mitchell Marsh (c), Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Nathan Ellis, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Owen, Josh Philippe, Matthew Renshaw, Matthew Short, Mitchell Starc. Game two onwards: Adam Zampa, Alex Carey. Game three: Josh Inglis
India squad: Shubman Gill (c), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Dhruv Jurel, Yashasvi Jaiswal
October 19: Australia won by seven wickets (DLS method)
October 23: Second ODI v India, Adelaide Oval, Adelaide, 2:30pm AEDT
October 25: Third ODI v India, SCG, Sydney, 2:30pm AEDT
All matches live via Kayo Sports and Foxtel
