Australia vs Sri Lanka: How spin legend Shane Warne once predicted success for Australia’s latest centurion Josh Inglis | Cricket News
While 29-year-old Australian batsman Josh Inglis became the second fastest maiden Test centurion with his knock of 102 runs off 94 balls against Sri Lanka in Galle on Thursday to be only behind Indian batsman Shikhar Dhawan’s 85-ball hundred against Australia in 2013, the England-born cricketer’s rise was once predicted Australian legend Shane Warne in 2021. Inglis had played under Warne during The Hundred in 2021 where the leg-spinner was the coach for London Spirit. Inglis had made his debut in ODI and T20I earlier for Australia and had become Australia’s 470th Test cricketer with a spot in the Australian team against Sri Lanka earlier this week and hit his maiden hundred off 90 balls.
“He’s one of those new, modern 360 (degree) players. He’s got every single shot – he’s got the ramp, the reverse ramps and he’s got the traditional normal shots as well. He’s very switched on and hungry for knowledge. When you try to separate at top-level sport what makes a difference, sometimes it’s just the way they think or their match awareness of doing the right thing at the right time. So far he hasn’t put a foot wrong. He’s very, very impressive and I reckon he’s going to be representing Australia very, very quickly,” Warne had said during The Hundred in 2021.
Inglis, who had moved to Australia from England at the age of 14, became the 21st Australian cricketer to hit a hundred on his Test debut. His feat was the first such instance of an Australian cricketer hitting a hundred on Test debut since Adam Voges scored his maiden Test hundred in his debut Test against West Indies in 2015. The Leeds born cricketer joined an illustrious l of Australian cricketers including Doug Walters, Greg Chappell, Mark Waugh Kepler Wessels and others with a hundred on Test match debut. “It’s always nice to hear nice words about you from people who’ve done so much in the game I loved my time with Warnie – he was a very good coach, full of stories, as you can imagine, and he offered a hell of a lot from a coaching perspective and I really enjoyed his company and his time over there,” Inglis told Sydney Morning Herald.
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Inglis’ feat was watched his parents Martin and Sarah at the stadium and the 29-year-old acknowledged their role in his cricketing journey.
“Dad’s had a fair bit of airtime over the past couple of days, putting his hand up for interviews and stuff like that. So that’s been pretty funny to see. But it has been special to have them there to share this moment with them. They’ve made so many sacrifices for me personally, moving their whole life from England to Perth in 2010 and I can’t thank them enough. I definitely wouldn’t be here without what they’ve done for me. Love them to bits and nice to see Dad carrying on and smacking the glass when I got to three figures,” said Inglis.
