Galle: In the last year of his life, Shane Warne coached the London Spirit in the Hundred competition. One of his recruits and proudest finds was a young wicketkeeper batter called Josh Inglis.
After Warne had worked with Inglis during the tournament, he never wasted an opportunity to talk up Inglis’ abilities with the gloves and the bat, doing so whenever the future of the Australian team was discussed.
Josh Inglis leaps for joy after making a century in Galle.Credit: AP
“He’s one of those new, modern 360 [degree] players,” Warne said in 2021. “He’s got every single shot – he’s got the ramp, the reverse ramps and he’s got the traditional normal shots as well. He’s very switched on and hungry for knowledge.
“When you try to separate at top-level sport what makes a difference, sometimes it’s just the way they think or their match awareness of doing the right thing at the right time. So far he hasn’t put a foot wrong. He’s very, very impressive and I reckon he’s going to be representing Australia very, very quickly.”
While Warne never did get to see Inglis accept his baggy green cap, the endlessly busy, proactive and inventive debut century the 29-year-old produced in Galle was nothing less than the great wrist spinner would have hoped for.
It was the perfect performance to maintain momentum after the displays of Travis Head and Steve Smith, and the ideal counterpoint to a monumental effort from Usman Khawaja. Inglis remembered Warne warmly after play.
“It’s always nice to hear nice words about you from people who’ve done so much in the game,” he said. “I loved my time with Warnie – he was a very good coach, full of stories, as you can imagine, and he offered a hell of a lot from a coaching perspective and I really enjoyed his company and his time over there.”
Inglis had been flagged as being part of this tour for quite some time, and he reflected that a calf injury during the summer actually gave him a few more days at home to think and prepare for the task.
A camp in the UAE helped too, but it was not until Inglis had a knock on his hotel room door from selector Tony Dodemaide, two days before the coin toss, that he was sure of his place.
“I sort of knew, and I was like ‘oh this could be Dod, the cleaners have already been so I think this is Dod’,” Inglis said. “[Partner] Megan was in the room with [son] Oscar and I went to the hallway and he told me, and it was a really nice moment. I ran in like a kid on Christmas morning to Megan and told her the good news.”
While Inglis then went about his preparation with all the thoroughness he had displayed on numerous previous tours without getting a chance to play in the Test side, in Perth his parents Martin and Sarah had a mad dash to reach Galle in time.
Shane Warne speaks to the London Spirit team in Birmingham in 2021.Credit: Getty
In the end they arrived at 4am on match morning, and watched emotionally as Geoff Marsh presented Inglis with his cap. By mid-afternoon on day two, they were more rested and rather more euphoric as Inglis picked a gap and reached his hundred.
“Dad’s had a fair bit of airtime over the past couple of days, putting his hand up for interviews and stuff like that,” Inglis said. “So that’s been pretty funny to see. But it has been special to have them there to share this moment with them. Megan and Oscar as well.
“They’ve made so many sacrifices for me personally, moving their whole life from England to Perth in 2010 and I can’t thank them enough. I definitely wouldn’t be here without what they’ve done for me. Love them to bits and nice to see Dad carrying on and smacking the glass when I got to three figures.”
While Dodemaide and head coach Andrew McDonald were a little less demonstrative, there was plenty of pride at how Inglis showed how the amalgamation of some mental skills work to score hundreds consistently for Western Australia had merged with white ball batting technique to make him a nightmare for spin bowlers.
“I definitely feel like in this part of the world when the wickets are spinning, you’ve got to be proactive and the shots you see, people playing sweeps, reverse sweeps, using their feet, you see them a lot in white ball cricket,” Inglis said.
“So I guess the skills are transferable. I just tried to be really proactive, put the bowlers under pressure when I could, and just get down the other end. It’s the easiest place to be. I felt like if you get stuck at one end for four to six balls you might find one with your name on it.”
As for his Yorkshire heritage – he was born in England and moved to Australia as a teenager – Inglis said he did not expect his teammates to forget it anytime soon.
“Whenever we play England everyone asks me what anthem I’m going to sing,” he laughed. “You can’t choose where you’re born and it’s just one of those things. It’s part of my story and I think the gags will always hang around.”
