Josh Philippe

A fine timer of the ball with a 360-degree range of shots, batter-wicketkeeper Josh Philippe was called up for the 2020 tour of England after an outstanding Big Bash campaign for Sydney Sixers, where he was Player of the Match in the final, memorably hit a six onto the roof of the SCG pavilion in one game, and finished the tournament with three half-centuries in four innings. That came on the heels of an excellent previous season, when again he had won the title with Sixers, making 487 runs.

Philippe's Australia debut came on the T20I tour of New Zealand early in 2021, and he made 39 opening in his first ODI, on the tour of West Indies that year, but failed to impress in the next two, and seemed to lose his spark in T20Is too, which resulted in him being left out of the side little over halfway into the year.

He made his BBL debut for Perth Scorchers in 2017 before being snapped up by Sixers, but he continued to play his state cricket for Western Australia. His start in the 50-over game was impressive: he scored at a good rate, and made double-figure scores in each of his first 13 List A matches, five of them fifties. There was also a notable half-century for the Prime Minister's XI in 2018 against a strong South Africa attack featuring Dale Steyn, Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi.

In much the same vein, he announced himself as a top-order batter of some talent for the Western Australia 2nd XI when he made 88 off 92 balls against England's Test attack at the WACA in 2017-18. A maiden first-class hundred in just his fifth Shield match followed. In Western Australia's title-winning 2021-22 Shield season, Philippe starred with 481 runs from his eight games, and though his next two seasons were lean, the side kept faith in him and he bounced back with 459 runs in 2024-25.