Voges confident Inglis can shine at No. 4 for Australia in Windies Tests

Melbourne, June 20: Former Australia batter Adam Voges backed Josh Inglis to bat at No.4 in Australia’s reshaped top order for the upcoming first Test in the Caribbean. The Western Australia (WA) coach believes the wicketkeeper-batter is more than capable of thriving in the top four at Test level, despite limited first-class experience in those positions.

Inglis was confirmed as a definite starter for the opening Test against the West Indies in Barbados next Wednesday, following Cricket Australia’s unusual move of announcing Marnus Labuschagne's omission five days ahead of the match. The selectors also confirmed that Steven Smith would miss out due to injury.

Inglis and Sam Konstas were named as direct replacements, although the final XI and batting order remain unconfirmed. Konstas is expected to open alongside Usman Khawaja, as selectors aim to establish a stable opening pair for the West Indies tour and the Ashes, following a stretch of 12 Tests with five different combinations.

With Smith expected to return for the second Test in Grenada, it’s likely Cameron Green will stay at No.3, despite recent failures in the World Test Championship final. This could see Inglis slot into the No.4 spot to minimise disruption when Smith returns, with Travis Head firmly settled at No.5.

"Obviously, being a wicketkeeper, you're generally batting down the order. We did trial Josh up the order a few years ago, batting at three and wicketkeeping, which is always a difficult thing to do," ESPNcricinfo quoted Voges as saying.

"We did that because we felt technically he's good enough to play that role and be able to do it. And I think without the burden of having to take the gloves, I think it's a role he can fill. And I guess if you fast forward to what does the Test team looks like over the course of an Ashes summer, I think these three Tests is a great audition for a number of players, and certainly hopefully for Josh, potentially in that role," he added.

At 30, Inglis is among the most in-form players globally across formats this year. He scored a century on his Test debut in Sri Lanka, batting at No.5 - his first hundred at that position in first-class cricket, having previously managed just one fifty in five innings there.

His experience at No.3 and No.4 is even more limited: he averaged 12.66 from six innings at No.3 for WA in 2019 and batted only once at No.4, scoring 44 back in 2015. His strongest position remains No.6, where he averages over 50 and has scored four first-class centuries, all while playing as WA’s designated wicketkeeper.

Reader Comments

Here are 5 diverse Indian perspective comments on the cricket article:

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Rahul K.

Interesting move by Australia! Inglis has shown great potential but batting at No.4 is a big challenge. Reminds me of how India groomed Pant in different positions before he settled. Hope this works out for them, but our bowlers will be watching closely before the next Border-Gavaskar series! 🏏

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Priya M.

As an Indian cricket fan, I love seeing teams experiment with their batting order. But isn't this too much pressure on Inglis? He's barely played at No.4 in domestic cricket. Australia should learn from how we carefully transitioned players like Rahul and Iyer into middle-order roles.

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Arjun S.

Voges' confidence is admirable but the stats don't lie - Inglis averages just 12 at No.3! Against quality bowling like Bumrah & Shami, this could be a weak link for Australia. Hope they're not making the same mistakes we did with some of our middle-order experiments.

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Sanjana R.

Good to see teams giving chances to new players! In India we often criticize our selectors for being too conservative. Maybe we should take a leaf out of Australia's book and be more adventurous with our batting lineups too. After all, that's how we discovered gems like Gill and Jaiswal!

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Vikram J.

The real test will be when they face India's spin attack. Inglis looked comfortable against pace but Ashwin-Jadeja on turning tracks? That's a different ball game altogether. Hope he proves Voges right though - cricket needs more strong middle-order batters to keep Test cricket exciting! 👍

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