The Ashes: How Josh Inglis went from talented English teenager to an Australian Test gun

Josh Inglis was on a path — growing up in Leeds as a teenager — that could have had him playing for England in these Ashes. He has still got more than a remnant of an accent, a beautiful touch of a soccer ball and the type of strokeplay that would make Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes weak at the knees. But instead he looks almost certain to play an Ashes Test match for Australia on home soil for the first time on Thursday against a country we call the old enemy and he once called home. The 30-year-old World Cup-winner made a century on Test debut against Sri Lanka in February and is now on the cusp of a recall as part of a shuffle likely to send Travis Head to the top of the order. That’s after peeling off an eye-catching century for a Cricket Australia XI at Lilac Hill last month. “It would mean a hell of a lot, not just for the Ashes but to be in the Test side in general,” Inglis told The West Australian in an interview before the series. “It’s an incredibly fun and exciting series I think everyone looks forward to between two countries with so much history.” Inglis moved to Perth with his family in 2010 as a 14-year-old. Five years later he made his first-class debut. State coaches still remember the day he rocketed onto their radar. A teenaged Inglis made 246 for Joondalup in a grade cricket final against Gosnells at the WACA Ground. WA batting mentor Beau Casson can also put his finger on the month where Inglis took his game to the next level. Playing under COVID restrictions in a Sheffield Shield season hosted largely in Adelaide, the wicketkeeper peeled off 585 runs — including three hundreds — in eight matches batting down the order. He also did it at a strike-rate of more than 85. It’s when he first started taking down bowling on a regular basis. “The thing that stood out for me was that COVID bubble time, his ability to knock out a few regular scores during that period, then I suppose it’s self-fulfilling, he just started to gather some really good momentum in red-ball cricket particularly,” Casson said. “He made an amazing hundred against South Australia at Karen Rolton Oval during that period ... then he went overseas and was playing lots of cricket. He just gained a better understanding of how he plays. “In that little period he grew significantly.” Inglis has a world-class ability to score all over the ground and is an elite backfoot player — a trait he developed finetuning his game at the WACA, helped by his small stature. It makes him a great match-up for England fasties Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse this week. “He’s obviously a pretty attacking batsman, he did really well on his debut in Sri Lanka, he’s been in really good form,” Steve Smith said in Brisbane. “He plays fast-bowling really nicely, so if he gets an opportunity I’m sure he’ll do really well for us.” There is a level of volatility in the Australian side this series. Smith said on Wednesday he doesn’t quite agree with the assertion from other team leaders that the batting order is flexible. Nonetheless, they put a high price on players like Head who are versatile. “I think he’s shown — whether it’s been in white ball where he’s batted three, whether it be batting middle-order in Test cricket and then last week where he made his hundred against the Lions — he provides multiple options for the side if he gets selected,” Casson said. “He has shown he can make runs in a variety of positions. That’s the currency in the game of cricket.” Inglis has already captained Australia in four limited-over internationals and his cricket brain is highly-rated. He might not quite keep up with teammates Smith and Marnus Labuschagne, but Inglis is also an underrated cricket-head. He even squeezed in a game for Joondalup on Saturday before flying to Queensland. “He’s a funny, enjoyable person to be around, but he absolutely loves the game,” Casson said. “There’s not too many games of cricket he misses and if he’s on the other side of the world he is always keeping up to speed with what’s happening here.” This time it will be Joondalup and WA watching him.