MEET THE AUSSIE WHO SUPPORTS ENGLAND!
Wicketkeeper Josh Inglis could face Root’s men but he has a guilty secret...
Such are the split loyalties of Josh Inglis — the latest Pom to have crossed the Ashes divide — that he remains open about supporting England while trying to play for Australia.
Western Australia wicketkeeperbatsman Inglis, 22, is trying to emulate Middlesbrough- born Matt Renshaw by pulling on the Baggy Green cap, having been in the national performance squad for the past 24 months.
The NPS is the equivalent of the England Lions and their mission is to prepare individuals to play for Australia within five years.
Inglis — a former Yorkshire age-group cricketer whose family emigrated from Leeds to Perth in January 2010, six weeks shy of his 15th birthday — is likely to line up for a cricket Australia XI against Joe Root’s men in an Ashes warm-up. And he could force his way in for the biggest series of all.
‘I still support England and it’s a weird situation to be in, because I am trying to play for Australia,’ Inglis told Sportsmail. ‘Because I was living in England for so long it’s hard to support someone else; to support another country if you’ve not been born there.’
Inglis, who has featured in four cA XIs against touring teams, starting with his first-class debut against West Indies in December 2015, is one of a trio of keepers — along with Peter Nevill and South Australia’s Alex carey — pressing out-of-form incumbent Matthew Wade for the top job.
An appearance at some stage in this Ashes series would be in keeping with a rapid rise. Twelve months ago, his rambunctious batting won influential admirers and of all batsmen to pass 100 runs in Australia’s domestic 50-over competition, only Glenn Maxwell returned a better strike rate than Inglis’s 119.1.
his glovework since state rival Sam Whiteman broke a finger in January has also drawn acclaim.
‘I would love to put the Baggy Green on but that’s a long-term goal,’ he said. ‘The first thing is to be a regular for Western Australia. If you think too far forward, you’re going to come unstuck.’
Renshaw might have offered similar sentiments 18 months ago when he was a performance squad colleague. Soon after, however, he was on Test debut and at the crease as Peter handscomb, another Anglo-Aussie, struck the winning run against South Africa in Adelaide.
Of Renshaw, Inglis said: ‘I spent a lot of time with him last year, he’s a good lad. I didn’t know he was born in England for some time because he’s got a pretty strong Australian accent.
‘he likes his football, so we talk about that quite a bit. My dad was born in coventry, so we’re Sky Blues. Matt was born in Middlesbrough, but he supports Newcastle.
‘Before I joined the academy, I hadn’t seen him play, but after training with him you could see how good he was, and for his age his mental side of the game is phenomenal — one of the best.
‘he is one of those guys who makes you think, “If he gets a go, he’ll fit right in”, and I wasn’t surprised when he scored runs in Test cricket. he’ll go from strength to strength.’
unlike Renshaw and handscomb — who was born in Australia to British parents — Inglis’s formative cricket was in the uK, turning out for Yorkshire for four seasons between under 11 and under 14, before parents Martin, a tiler, and Sarah, an airport worker, decided they wanted to make a regular holiday destination their permanent home.
Success as a Leeds schoolboy — the Kaiser chiefs presented him with the Year 8 sportsman of the year award at St Mary’s comprehensive, Menston, in 2008 — was replicated Down under, culminating in an astonishing performance in Perth’s grade cricket final two years ago when Inglis smashed 246 out of a total of 557 for six as Joondalup crushed Gosnells by 392 runs.
BY ThAT stage, he had Australian citizenship, had consigned all ‘Pommie’ sledging to the past, and established himself with Western Australia’s second XI.
Yet it is only four years since he featured for Yorkshire’s equivalent, under current England assistant Paul Farbrace, in a stint as Pool cricket club’s overseas player. The interim has offered ample opportunity to come to terms with his lot as an ambitious Englishman abroad. ‘Players with dual nationalities are quite common in international cricket and it creates interest, I suppose, but to be honest I would play for Kenya if I could,’ he says.
‘I just want to play cricket at the highest level possible. I don’t think I would move back to England now and, while you can never completely discount things, I guess I made the decision to play for Australia a couple of years ago. I am committed to taking my career as far as I can.
‘This is my job. People move jobs, move companies and wouldn’t get any s*** for it, but if you move country as a sportsman you are in the spotlight.’
And Leeds lad Inglis will certainly be just that if he achieves that goal of lining up for the old enemy against the country of his birth.