Inglis century signals Australia's shift to IPL generation as Test core
Inglis reached three figures in all three formats, underlining the selectors' willingness to fast-track white-ball specialists into the Test side.
Josh Inglis scored 102 in Australia's first innings of 429 during the third Test against South Africa at Newlands. He became the first Australian to complete centuries in Tests, ODIs and T20Is while batting with a broken finger. Inglis replaced Steve Smith in the side and scored 36 of his first 50 runs against Simon Harmer's spin.
Australia led South Africa by one run at stumps on day two after Simon Harmer took four for 84 and Marco Jansen claimed two for 37. Alex Carey made 50 from 126 balls, Matthew Renshaw scored a half-century at number five and Cameron Green added 65 from 110 deliveries. Marnus Labuschagne was dismissed for a duck.
Inglis averaged 66.50 against spin and 31.93 against pace in first-class cricket since the start of 2024. He played only two first-class matches in the 20 months between his two Test centuries, filling the gap with 25 T20Is, 17 ODIs, 16 IPL matches and five BBL matches. Cooper Connolly batted nearly two hours with the tail in his first Test innings since his debut.
CricHubb Take
The decision to hand Inglis a Test berth while he was still establishing himself in the IPL top six shows selectors now treat franchise cricket as the primary talent pipeline rather than a distraction from red-ball development.