Inglis ready for history making captaincy role

If Josh Inglis doubted the significance of becoming the first England-born player in almost 140 years to captain Australia's men's cricket team, he was set straight by the man who informed him of his promotion.

Inglis, who was born in Leeds but migrated to Australia in 2010 with his family when aged 14, learned his cricket craft on Perth's uniquely fast pitches and the only hint of his heritage comes with the occasional Yorkshire twang to his hybrid accent.

And it was that trite but telltale detail national selection panel chair George Bailey wryly referred to when he called Inglis last week to advise him of his possible elevation to the job coveted by so many aspiring young Australia cricketers.

In the absence of regular T20I captain Mitchell Marsh (on paternity leave) and with ODI skipper Pat Cummins to miss the three-game T20 series against Pakistan to prepare for upcoming Tests against India, Inglis was told to prepare for a captaincy debut.

The 29-year-old wicketkeeper-batter was today confirmed as captain for the third and final ODI against Pakistan in his hometown Perth on Sunday (which Cummins will also miss), as well as the subsequent T20s against the same opponent in Brisbane, Sydney and Hobart.

"'Bails' (Bailey) gave me a call and let me know I was part of the (white-ball) squad, then said 'we're looking for you to captain the T20 series and potentially the last ODI as well'," Inglis told reporters in Adelaide today.

"He mentioned about maybe working on my Australian accent too, which was a nice little gag from George.

"With Mitch and Pat preparing for the Test series, it's really nice to get this opportunity and I'm really looking forward to it."

The only other England-born men's cricketer to lead Australia at international level was Percy McDonnell who captained his adopted country against the land of his birth in 1887 and 1888.

A hard-hitting batter which is how Inglis is best characterised, London-born McDonnell who was aged six when his family emigrated to Australia won just one of his six matches at the helm.

But he is best remembered as the first-ever Test skipper to send an opposing side into bat, which he did at the SCG in January 1887 (where England won by 13 runs) and again at the same venue a year later (with England 126-run winners).

Inglis has previously admitted to being an ardent England fan as a football-obsessed youngster and when playing age-group cricket in Yorkshire, and concedes the prospect of becoming a future captain of Australia was beyond far-fetched in those formative days.

"At that stage, at 14, I was just loving my cricket and wanting to play as much as I can," he said.

"To be in this position today, I'm really honoured and really privileged.

"Obviously there's a lot of guys missing, preparing for the Test summer and we've got quite a young group as well so I'm just really happy to be appointed."

Apart from his stint at the helm of the Prime Minister's XI in a four-day tour match against West Indies at Canberra in 2022, Inglis admits his other senior captaincy experience is fleeting.

He's captained his Perth Premier Cricket club Joondalup on the rare occasions he's been available, while he also led Western Australia at the Under-17 National Championships in 2011.

However, he has foreshadowed a similarly aggressive approach to the new job as he takes with his batting and acknowledges there are a few wise heads in the current white-ball team he can consult for captaincy advice as required.

"I haven't done a heap of it (captaincy) in the recent past, but I think as a wicketkeeper you're always looking for ways to influence the game and you're always thinking about how to change the game," he said today.

"I don't like seeing the game go flat, and like to keep it moving and try to be creative in that sense.

"Being a keeper, and not being able to go to the bowler all the time it is going to be crucial to have people around me.

"I've got guys like 'Stoin' (Marcus Stoinis), 'Maxi' (Glenn Maxwell) and Matt Short who has done a bit with the (BBL team Adelaide) Strikers and 'Zamps' (Adam Zampa) as well.

"No doubt, those guys I'll lean on during those games."

Inglis has been in sublime batting form across all formats this summer, peeling off two centuries for WA in the Sheffield Shield and top-scoring for Australia with 49 (off 42 balls) in the team's two-wicket win in the opening ODI at the MCG last Monday.

But his dismissal when caught on the boundary in that game triggered a mini-collapse in which Australia lost 3-0 in the space of five balls before Cummins – who will captain in Friday's game at Adelaide Oval – saw his team home with an unbeaten 32.

Inglis said Pakistan's four-pronged pace attack proved a handful on an MCG pitch he described as "a bit two-paced with indifferent bounce".

However, he is expecting a different surface and potentially a change in tactics from Pakistan who might be tempted to include a spinner and scale back their short-pitched bowling strategy given Adelaide Oval's shorter boundaries square of the wicket.

"I think they're probably not going as much with the short-ball plan," Inglis said of Pakistan's possible game blueprint.

"It's quite short here (square boundaries), so probably lends itself to some different tactics but I guess we'll find out in-game.

"They've got a great fast-bowling group at their disposal, so I think we'll have a good look at all their squad and be ready for whatever comes."

Certainly, Pakistan will be well drilled in what to expect from the Adelaide pitch given the presence of coach Jason Gillespie and his assistant, former Australia coach Tim Nielsen, who are both stalwarts of South Australia cricket.

Among the net bowlers putting the visiting batters through their paces today was Gillespie's 19-year-old son Jackson who is playing his maiden season of top-flight Premier Cricket with SA Cricket Association's under-19 team.

Pakistan may be tempted to include a specialist spinner – either 19-year-old left-arm orthodox Arafat Minhas or 21-year-old left-arm wrist spinner Faisal Akram – given Adelaide's propensity to offer assistance through its thatchy grass cover.

Australia will consider adding Test quick Josh Hazlewood who will join the ODI squad tomorrow before he also undertakes preparation for the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy NRMA Insurance Test Series.

Left-arm spin-bowling allrounder Cooper Connolly might also come into consideration for the second game.

Hazlewood, Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne will miss the final ODI in Perth on Sunday to focus on Test preparation, with fast bowlers Spencer Johnson and Xavier Bartlett added to the 50-over squad for that game along with 'keeper-batter Josh Phillipe.

But when it comes to one of the other established perks of captaincy, Inglis is unlikely to take on responsibility for decreeing the batting order in his leadership debut and is happy to leave that job to men's team coach Andrew McDonald.

"Opening the batting and bowling this week?" Inglis laughed when asked if he had plans to rejig his role in the line-up when he takes on the captaincy.

"No I'll leave that to 'Ronnie' (McDonald) to sort out the batting order."

Australia v Pakistan limited-overs series 2024

Australia ODI squad: Pat Cummins (c - first two matches), Josh Inglis, (c - third match), Sean Abbott, Xavier Bartlett (third match only), Cooper Connolly, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood (second match only), Spencer Johnson (third match only), Marnus Labuschagne (first two matches only), Glenn Maxwell, Lance Morris, Josh Philippe (third match only), Matthew Short, Steve Smith (first two matches only), Mitchell Starc (first two matches only), Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa

Pakistan ODI squad: Muhammad 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: Australia won by two wickets

November 8: Adelaide Oval, 2.30pm AEDT

November 10: Perth Stadium, 2.30pm AEDT

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

Pakistan T20 squad: Muhammad 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 exclusive on Fox Cricket and Kayo Sports