A camp in the UAE helped too, but it was not until Inglis had a knock on his hotel room door from selector Tony Dodemaide, two days before the coin toss, that he was sure of his place.
“I sort of knew, and I was like ‘oh this could be Dod, the cleaners have already been so I think this is Dod’,” Inglis said. “[Partner] Megan was in the room with [son] Oscar and I went to the hallway and he told me, and it was a really nice moment. I ran in like a kid on Christmas morning to Megan and told her the good news.”
While Inglis then went about his preparation with all the thoroughness he had displayed on numerous previous tours without getting a chance to play in the Test side, in Perth his parents Martin and Sarah had a mad dash to reach Galle in time.
Shane Warne speaks to the London Spirit team in Birmingham in 2021.Credit: Getty
In the end they arrived at 4am on match morning, and watched emotionally as Geoff Marsh presented Inglis with his cap. By mid-afternoon on day two, they were more rested and rather more euphoric as Inglis picked a gap and reached his hundred.
“Dad’s had a fair bit of airtime over the past couple of days, putting his hand up for interviews and stuff like that,” Inglis said. “So that’s been pretty funny to see. But it has been special to have them there to share this moment with them. Megan and Oscar as well.
“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.”
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While Dodemaide and head coach Andrew McDonald were a little less demonstrative, there was plenty of pride at how Inglis showed how the amalgamation of some mental skills work to score hundreds consistently for Western Australia had merged with white ball batting technique to make him a nightmare for spin bowlers.
“I definitely feel like in this part of the world when the wickets are spinning, you’ve got to be proactive and the shots you see, people playing sweeps, reverse sweeps, using their feet, you see them a lot in white ball cricket,” Inglis said.
“So I guess the skills are transferable. I just tried to be really proactive, put the bowlers under pressure when I could, and just get down the other end. It’s the easiest place to be. I felt like if you get stuck at one end for four to six balls you might find one with your name on it.”
As for his Yorkshire heritage – he was born in England and moved to Australia as a teenager – Inglis said he did not expect his teammates to forget it anytime soon.
“Whenever we play England everyone asks me what anthem I’m going to sing,” he laughed. “You can’t choose where you’re born and it’s just one of those things. It’s part of my story and I think the gags will always hang around.”
