West Australian Josh Inglis has grasped his last-minute call-up to the Test team with both hands, notching a statement Test century against South Africa in Cape Town.
Inglis was brought into the team after Steve Smith removed himself from contention with a neck injury on the morning of day one.
The keeper nearly missed the series after fracturing his finger in the ODI contests against the Proteas but, after a 10-day stint back at home in Perth, was cleared to return to South Africa.
Inglis was then given the tick of approval to be available for selection during the second Test of the series in Gqeberha.
The 31-year-old revealed before the match he would still need to wear a splint over the tip of his index finger while batting, but it didn’t stop him helping Australia take a commanding position in their first innings at Newlands.
He had to bide his time waiting to bat as teammates Matthew Renshaw and fellow West Australian Cam Green put on a large partnership on a flat day-two pitch, and found himself walking to the crease for a tricky period before Tea.
But Inglis fought through to the break and resumed afterwards alongside fellow wicketkeeper Alex Carey, who has often kept him out of the team.
Their left-hand, right-hand combination worked well to wear down the home side’s bowlers, and while Inglis looked rusty through his first 50 deliveries at the crease, having predominantly played white-ball cricket over the past 18 months, he looked exquisite once he found his touch.
He attacked the square boundaries as Gerald Coetzee went after him with the short ball while he latched onto anything loose from Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada.
Inglis’ command of Simon Harmer’s off-spin will please the team’s hierarchy the most, however.
He used his feet and defended strongly from the crease, while his sparing use of the sweep made it effective when deployed.
Inglis showed his maturity as well, resuming on the third day on 85 after what would have been a nervous overnight wait.
He took the time to get back in and didn’t look for the boundary to get through the nervy 90s.
In fact, he looked anything but nervous as he reversed-swept Harmer’s first delivery of day three to the fence to reach triple figures.
He fell shortly after to a good delivery from Harmer but not before becoming the first Australian batsman to have multiple centuries in all three formats.
It’s also a big statement from the rejigged batting order after skipper Pat Cummins showed his lack of faith in them by bowling first on a batting paradise on day one.
