Inglis in Test conversation, but not as opener: Bailey

Josh Inglis is not under consideration for the vacant Test opening position, but selection chief George Bailey admits the wicketkeeper's dominant recent form could soon see him play as a specialist batter.

NSW coach Greg Shipperd, one of Australian cricket's most respected judges of talent, last week flagged Inglis as a potential Test opener after Western Australia’s No.6 peeled off centuries in consecutive Sheffield Shield matches to begin the season.

The 29-year-old has now scored four tons in his past seven Shield matches, backing up an impressive run in white-ball cricket for Australia too.

Josh Inglis - all formats since start of 2023

 

First-class - Matches: 8 | Inns: 14 | Runs: 736 | Average: 61.33 | Strike-rate: 76.03 | 100s: 4 | 50s: 0

 

ODIs - M: 21 | Inns: 19 | Runs: 432 | Ave: 25.41 | SR: 108.00 | 100s: 0 | 50s: 3

 

T20Is - M: 17 | Inns: 16 | Runs: 459 | Ave: 35.30 | SR: 171.36 | 100s: 2 | 50s: 0

While Bailey suggested Australia's incumbent gloveman in both limited-overs teams is not in the mix to partner Usman Khawaja against India, he said Inglis' hot form has him firmly in the conversation if a more familiar position becomes available.

"I've spoken to Josh on this. Not in the short term, I don't think that he's someone that we would be looking to place at the top of the order," Bailey told reporters on Monday.

"But there's no doubt that the form is really fantastic at the moment … the ability to jump back into domestic cricket and dominate has been fantastic.

"I think in different series at different times of the year, he would firmly come into the mix purely as a batter the way he's been going.

"If the right opportunity opened up throughout the summer, in the spots where we think he's most capable of performing, I think he'd be firmly in that conversation as well."

Inglis is one of several contenders to captain Australia's T20 side against Pakistan next month. All-format players, including regular T20 skipper Mitch Marsh, are sitting out the three-match series to prepare for the Test bout against India.

"We've been really clear that we are prioritising the preparation for individuals around the Test summer and that will be the first time that we get that group together," said Bailey, with the tail-end of the Pakistan T20s set to overlap with the Test squad’s arrival in Perth next month.

"So rather than switching guys in and out and becoming quite messy, it was just deemed more appropriate for a number of reasons to separate them out."

There is also almost no overlap between the white-ball squads for the Pakistan series and the group of players set to play for Australia A in a pair of first-class matches against India A in Mackay and Melbourne. Cooper Connolly is the sole exception.

That means Inglis, who took over from Carey as the first-choice ODI keeper during last year's World Cup, will not play any more red-ball cricket before the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series gets underway.

In the lead-up, the spotlight will instead be firmly trained on the Australia A top-order quartet of Sam Konstas, Cameron Bancroft, Marcus Harris and Nathan McSweeney.

Bailey did not explicitly say the next Test opener would come from that group, however he conceded they, along with Inglis, had been the batters who "have really been standing out at the start of the season".

In the Shield, Konstas, Harris and Bancroft are all openers, while McSweeney bats at first drop. That may leave some juggling to give each player a run in a familiar spot.

McSweeney is the captain of the A squad, though it appears likely the selectors will be explicit in their preference on who bats where.

"We've got three players who open the batting for their state and we've got one player who bats at three for their state – so four top order batters to try and fit into three, so there will be some adjustments there," said Bailey.

"I think we'll set that up for the first game, and then if we deem it necessary or feel like there's something else we want to have a look at for the second game, we may change that.

"We're looking for performance. Any time there's these Australia A opportunities, whether it's real or not, there's always the perception that there's a little bit more pressure.

"Obviously, the standard of cricket is pretty high, so that's always a great opportunity seeing how players interact in a different team to what they're used to around their states. All of that's really important.

"We'll have a selector present at both games and we'll be watching closely."

Bancroft, with 10 runs in four hits to commence his Shield summer, has been the least impressive of those top-order players this season but has the strongest record in the competition over the past few summers.

Bailey suggested more weight would be given to those.

"He's been consistent for long period of time – that's got to count for something," said Bailey. "Missing out in a couple of Shield games isn't the be all and end all when he has been as consistent as he has."

As for David Warner's supposed comeback plans, reported via News Corp last week, Bailey stressed the panel was not taking them seriously.

"I have spoken to him about that," he said. "I was firmly in the in the camp of assuming he was making those comments in jest.

"I think there was clearly some that took them very seriously, and some that I think took them as David intended – with tongue firmly in cheek."

Australia A meanwhile replaced Liam Hatcher in their squad with Brendan Doggett on Monday. Hatcher himself had been a replacement for Mark Steketee due to an injury but since pulled up sore from NSW's One-Day Cup match against Victoria.

Australia v Pakistan limited-overs series 2024

Australia ODI squad: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Cooper Connolly, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Short, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa

Pakistan ODI squad: Mohammad Rizwan, Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Agha Salman, Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Faisal Akram, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan, Irfan Khan, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi

November 4: MCG, 2.30pm AEDT

November 8: Adelaide Oval, 2.30pm AEDT

November 10: Perth Stadium, 2.30pm AEDT

Australia T20 squad: Sean Abbott, Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Aaron Hardie, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Short, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa

Pakistan T20 squad: Mohammad Rizwan (c), Abbas Afridi, Agha Salman, Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan, Irfan Khan, Jahandad Khan, Naseem Shah, Omair Yousuf, Sahibzada Farhan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, Usman Khan.

November 14: Gabba, 7.00pm AEDT

November 16: SCG: 7.00pm AEDT

November 18: Bellerive Oval, Hobart, 7.00pm AEDT

All matches live and excluisve on Fox Cricket and Kayo Sports