My dream one day is to be somewhat as good as Steve Smith, says Josh Philippe
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Australia’s swashbuckling wicket-keeper batsman Josh Phillipe, who has often drawn comparisons with Steve Smith, has revealed that his dream is to be as good as the latter. Philippe, who has been making a name for himself in domestic cricket, is also hopeful of a national call-up in the near future.
Often compared to Steve Smith for both his looks and his style of batting, Josh Philippe has been making quite a name for himself within the Australian ranks. The 22-year-old, who plies his trade with Western Australia in first-class and one-day cricket and Sydney Sixers in the BBL, is one of the brightest young talents in the country and is touted by many to scale great heights for Australia in the future.
It is, of course, flattering for any young cricketer to be compared to Smith and Philippe, speaking exclusively to SportsCafe, has revealed that his dream is to some day be as good as Smith, who is now widely regarded as the “Best since Bradman”.Â
“It's pretty cool to be compared to someone of his (Steve Smith's) calibre, he's an exceptional player and the my dream some day is to be able to be somewhat as good as him,” Philippe told SportsCafe in an exclusive interview.
Incidentally, Smith took Philippe under his own wings last year and spent a lot of time with the youngster trying to mould him, and perhaps, that’s one of the reasons why there’s a striking similarity between the two. In fact, some have gone as far to call the youngster as “Steve Smith’s Protege”.Â
But the 22-year-old, who first made headlines with a dazzling knock against a touring England side in 2017 representing Western Australia, has asserted that he goes about his batting his own way and at no point has thought about basing it on Smith’s batting.Â
“Yeah, I do get told a lot that I look similar and I bat a bit similar, but I wouldn't say I've necessarily based the way I play on him,” he spoke of the inevitable comparisons.
“I just sorta found my own way and that's about it. A lot of people think it is similar and a lot of people think it's a bit different as well. So yeah, it goes both ways,” he added.
Last year, Philippe took a major decision of leaving his home side Perth Scorchers to play for Sydney Sixers, a move that paid dividends as he amassed more than 300 runs at a strike rate of almost 160 in the competition. Speaking to cricket.com.au last year, he then revealed that the Sixers’ move to offer him the gloves - something that Perth weren’t able to do - served as the deal breaker for him.
In international cricket, however, such luxuries are far fetched and Philippe says that he’ll be happy to take up any role - be it a specialist batter or a wicket-keeper batsman - should he be summoned upon to represent Australia in the future. He further revealed that he loves to be a wicket-keeper batsman as it adds an extra edge to his game.
"I'd love to be a wicket-keeper batsman as it creates another dynamic to my game, but then again, if I'm good enough to be a batter then I'd definitely take that as well.Â
“Wicket-keeping is definitely a massive option for me, but then again, if I'm good enough to get into the team as a specialist batsman, I'd take that as well,”.
Philippe, who was in Chennai last month as a part of Australia’s National Performance Squad, then went on to speak about his experience in the city and said that it helped him hone his skills as a batter and develop his game to a large extent. The youngster was also joined by the likes of Jhye Richardson, Ben McDermott and Lloyd Pope in the same tour.Â
“Actually I came here (Chennai) last year for the same trip. It's definitely a bit hotter than it is back home, but I love it (the experience).Â
“You get to hit a lot of balls and obviously you get to experience different conditions as well, so it is great to just experience India and develop my game over here,”
Philippe, who smashed a nonchalant 43-ball 61 against Victoria in the inaugural match of the 2019 Marsh ODI Cup, has been making heads turn with his eye-catching performances and now has his sights set on breaking into the national team. While admitting that he is still some distance away from warranting a call-up, the youngster is confident of donning the Aussie colours in the near future and feels that he would need to keep piling on the runs to realize his dream.
“I just gotta focus on what I'm doing now and keep making runs and then I'd love to be thinking that I'd be knocking on the door. I still think I'm a little bit away. I only really had one good year and there's still plenty to work on.
“But hopefully, If I string together a few good performances and have a few good years then there's a chance that I'm not that far away.” he signed off. Â
