Josh Inglis may not have taken the traditional route into the Australia national team, but he has become a regular member of the white-ball set-up and has shown his full potential with the bat in T20I cricket.
The versatile 29-year-old right-hander is also the current Test understudy to Alex Carey, with that same pair vying to be first-choice with the gloves in both the 50-over and 20-over formats.
Recently Inglis has impressed on the tour of the UK, particularly in the T20I series against both Scotland and England, while he will still hold out hope of a Test call in the near future.
Matches | Innings | Not Outs | Runs | Highest Score | Average | |
ODI | 22 | 20 | 1 | 419 | 65 | 22.05 |
T20I | 26 | 25 | 4 | 679 | 110 | 32.33 |
Perth Scorchers and Western Australia star Inglis made his ODI bow for the Baggy Greens in June 2022 against Sri Lanka.
A half-century against South Africa in Bloemfontein just over a year later was enough to ensure that he was selected as first-choice wicketkeeper-batter for the 2023 World Cup.
He made only a limited impact with the bat at the tournament in India, with his best contributions being 58 against Sri Lanka in Lucknow and 38 against New Zealand in Dharamsala.
A patient 28 was crucial to Australia sneaking past South Africa in the semi-finals, while Inglis was not needed to bat in the final as the Aussies triumphed by a convincing six-wicket margin against tournament hosts India in Ahmedabad.
Since that global tournament success Inglis has recorded an ODI best of 65 against West Indies at the MCG in February 2024, before injury hampered his involvement on the tour of the UK.
Left-hander Carey stepped in to make a couple of crucial contributions with the bat, leaving he and Inglis back in a battle to be first-choice in the 50-over side.
Inglis made his T20I debut against Sri Lanka in February 2022, having been selected for the 2021 T20 World Cup squad but not played a game as Matthew Wade impressed.
Despite beginning his 20-over international career with six scores of over 20, he slipped down the pecking order and missed out on the 2022 T20 World Cup on home soil, before making the most of a return to the fold a matter of days later.
Straight after the tournament Australia toured India and Inglis - batting at number three - smashed his career-best 110 from 50 balls in the series opener, striking 11 boundaries and clearing the ropes a further eight times.
That knock cemented his place in the white-ball set-up and he won selection for the 2024 T20 World Cup, but again had to watch on from the sidelines as Wade played in all seven matches.
A tour of the UK in September 2024 saw him impress and add a second 20-over international century to his record.
Having made a quickfire 27 not out in the series opener against Scotland, Inglis blasted 103 from 49 deliveries in the second T20I, again seeming to flourish when batting at number three in the order.
He backed that up with knocks of 37 and 42 when coming in at four against England and he appears to have made himself a rock-solid selection in the 20-over arena.