In-form Philippe, Vince primed to maximise Sixers' opening stand

An in-form Josh Philippe has been backed to return to his best in KFC BBL|14 with Sydney Sixers out to go one step further this season.

The Sixers have played off in four of the past five grand finals but last won the title in BBL|10 and went down to Brisbane Heat in last season's decider.

Their stability at the top of the order has been a major factor in their consistency with Philippe set to again partner Englishman James Vince in BBL|14.

Philippe has been in Sydney for the entire domestic season after switching states from Western Australia to NSW during the off-season. It appears to have been a smart move so far with the 27-year-old peeling off a century in his NSW debut with 139 against his former state in the One-Day Cup in September.

He's also scored three half-centuries in the Sheffield Shield and Sixers captain Moises Henriques is optimistic that form will carry into the Big Bash.

"I feel like whenever he's come over from Perth to Sydney, it's almost given him a little kick of energy," Henriques told cricket.com.au ahead of the Sixers season opener against Melbourne Renegades at the SCG on Monday night.

"The change of environment, the change of people – it'll be interesting to see how he goes now that he's spent six months here already.

"He's in really good form in, he's scored a hundred in one-day cricket, and he's been batting really well in Shield cricket as well.

"He's been playing well for New South Wales and I'm hopeful that continues with the Sixers."

Philippe earned a call-up to Australia's T20 squad during last month's series against Pakistan after Cooper Connolly suffered a broken hand. He also played in the first Australia A four-day match against India A in Mackay, highlighting how highly rated he is by national selectors.

But the wicketkeeper-batter's past two Big Bash campaigns have been his leanest since joining the Sixers in BBL|08 and he ended last season batting at No.3 rather than his preferred opening spot.

His top score last season was 47 and across BBL|12 and |13 he's tallied 523 runs at 20 with just two fifties, significantly down on his average (32) over the previous four years.

The right-hander has started the summer with 483 runs in eight matches across both the four-day and 50-over formats, which gives Henriques reason to believe he's confident in his game heading into BBL|14.

"He's been selected in some of the Aussie A stuff so I'm hopeful it's a positive," he said.

"He would have always had a lot of fond memories of NSW and the Sixers because of that time of year, spending Christmas and New Years' time (in Sydney).

"I feel like he's always really enjoyed his time with us, so hopefully he continues to enjoy it during the summer."

Philippe's opening partner Vince will be available for the Sixers' first seven or eight games depending on when he is called away to captain the Gulf Giants in the UAE's ILT20 competition.

"I want to make every one count," Vince said.

"I had signed elsewhere before the draft, so I'll have to try and maximise my opportunities here.

"Getting off to a good start in the competition is always important and the Sixers as a whole, we tend to start competitions pretty well.

"From personal point of view and a team point of view, starting well against the 'Gades will be really important.

"Hopefully, going forward I can spend the whole duration of the BBL here … it's hard to say goodbye, particularly when finals are coming up as some of the best memories from Sydney have been winning finals."

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