‘I’m back’: Western Australia’s Josh Philippe named Player of the Marsh Cup

Ahead of the Marsh Cup final in Perth, Western Australian gloveman Josh Philippe has been dubbed Player of the Tournament following a “frustrating” summer of cricket.

The 25-year-old, who was named Player of the Match three times during the competition, accumulated 436 runs at 72.66 in seven matches with a strike rate of 107.65, including a century and four fifties.

Philippe polled 22 votes, one more than New South Wales opener Daniel Hughes, who finished as the tournament’s leading run-scorer with 548 at 78.28 including four centuries — equalling the all-time record for most hundreds in a one-day domestic campaign.

“It’s a pretty nice feeling, I wasn’t really expecting it,” Philippe told reporters on Tuesday.

“I guess in a relatively mixed year, my one-day stuff has been pretty consistent, so it’s a nice cherry on top and hopefully we can get the trophy as well.”

Philippe, who represented Australia in three ODIs and 10 T20Is in 2021, had a disappointing Big Bash League campaign with the Sydney Sixers, scoring 266 runs at 17.73 as the men in magenta failed to qualify for the final for the first time in four years.

“Obviously, it wasn’t the (Big Bash) campaign I was hoping for … I’ve definitely had a look back, reviewed and reflected on quite a few things,” Philippe said.

“And I guess I’ve come out and got a few runs back under the belt now. I’m feeling a lot more confident about my game.”

Philippe was dropped from Western Australia’s Sheffield Shield side earlier this summer after registering 78 runs at 9.75 in eight innings, but the talented right-hander plundered 161 off 119 balls in a second XI clash against South Australia last month to push his case for a recall.

West Australian wicketkeeper Josh Inglis will be unavailable for the Sheffield Shield final due to international commitments, opening the door for Philippe’s return.

“I feel like I’m back,” Philippe said.

“It’s a nice feeling to be back in the runs.

“It’s probably a good way to sum up the year, a little bit frustrating, but one-day cricket for whatever reason has been really consistent and has been the format where I’ve most trusted my game.”

Australian opener David Warner is recovering from an elbow fracture sustained during the second Test against India in Delhi — if he was ruled out of the upcoming ODI series, Philippe has firmed as a leading candidate to replace the 36-year-old in the Australian squad.

The undefeated Western Australians will host South Australia at the WACA in Wednesday’s Marsh Cup final, boasting 10 international players in their squad.

Mitchell Marsh, Ashton Agar, Marcus Stoinis and Inglis are all expected to play before travelling to the subcontinent ahead of Australia’s three-match ODI series against India, which gets underway on March 17.

“The way that the stars have aligned, we feel like we’ve got really healthy competition for spots and as a result of that it means our playing XI is really strong,” West Australian captain Ashton Turner told reporters on Tuesday.

“There’s also some guys who are really fortunate to miss out and it’s a shame for them, but it’s a great thing for West Australian cricket.

“We never take for granted having those guys and more often than not, we actually prepare to not have those international guys in our squad.

“Often we build a squad expecting those guys to be away and when they’re back it’s almost a bonus.”

Earlier this week, West Australian paceman Jhye Richardson was ruled out of the Marsh Cup final and Australia’s ODI tour of India after re-aggravating a hamstring injury.

“He’s really disappointed,” Turner said.

“He’s spent more time in the rehab room than anyone else really this season.

“To see your mates go down is really tough and for someone like Jhye, who’s now had repeated injuries, our heart goes out to him.

“He’s got a long period of time in the gym ahead of him, and that’s really challenging, but we’ve seen before that he’s been able to go through that and come out the other end almost a better player.

“He’s not on his own, he’s got a squad of teammates and some great support behind him and no doubt his best cricket is still in front of him.”

The Marsh Cup final gets underway on Wednesday at 3.05pm AEDT.

West Australian squad

Ashton Turner (captain), Ashton Agar, Cam Bancroft, Jason Behrendorff, Cam Gannon, Aaron Hardie, Josh Inglis (wk), Matt Kelly, Mitchell Marsh, Josh Philippe, D’Arcy Short, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye.

South Australian squad

Wes Agar, Jake Carder, Daniel Drew, Henry Hunt, Spencer Johnson, Jake Lehmann (captain), Ben Manenti, Nathan McAndrew, Nathan McSweeney, Harry Nielsen (wk), Liam Scott, Kelvin Smith, Henry Thornton