Josh Inglis has been ruled out of the remaining two ODIs against South Africa and is in doubt for next month’s three-match Test series after sustaining a fractured right index finger during the first ODI in Durban.
Inglis picked up the injury midway through Australia’s fielding innings in that match. He then batted, making 3 before falling reverse sweeping against Bjorn Fortuin. Cricket Australia confirmed he will return home for scans, with his Test availability subject to further assessment and progress.
“The West Australian will return home for scans with his availability for the three-match Test series subject to further assessment and progress,” a CA statement said as quoted by Cricinfo.
The injury is a setback for Inglis, who had finished the preceding series against Zimbabwe in strong form, scoring his second ODI hundred in the final match in Harare.
What does Inglis’s absence mean for the ODI squad?
With Inglis unavailable, Alex Carey will be recalled for the second ODI at the Wanderers in Johannesburg on Sunday and will return to the one-day wicketkeeping role. In recent matches where both players have been available, Inglis has kept wicket while Carey has fielded in the outfield.
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Australia will be without a specialist reserve wicketkeeper for the Johannesburg match, as there is not enough time to fly a replacement in before Sunday. The selectors will carry that risk for the second ODI before any longer-term decision is made ahead of the third match.
Who could replace Inglis in the Test squad if he does not recover in time?
Inglis is part of the Test squad as a spare batter and reserve wicketkeeper. He has played five Tests as a specialist batter, batting across positions from No. 4 to No. 7. He made a century on debut against Sri Lanka in early 2025 but has not passed 32 in his next six innings. Should he not recover in time for the Durban Test, Australia would need to consider flying in a replacement wicketkeeper to avoid leaving Carey without cover.
Carey has not missed a Test since making his debut in the 2021-22 Ashes and brought up his 50th Test appearance against Bangladesh in Mackay last month. Inglis did step in with the gloves in Jamaica last year when Carey suffered a concussion on the second day of that match.
The wicketkeepers currently on the Australia A tour of India are Josh Philippe and Sam Harper. Philippe made 14 and 7 in Australia A’s heavy defeat in the opening four-day match. Harper had an impressive 2025-26 season for Victoria, making a significant impact as an opener in the Sheffield Shield. No Australia A player passed fifty in that four-day game, with pace bowler Fergus O’Neill top-scoring with 47, followed by Jason Sangha’s first-innings 46.
If selectors choose not to call up a specialist reserve wicketkeeper, or opt to add two players, that could open the door for Nathan McSweeney or Peter Handscomb, who was the leading Sheffield Shield run-scorer last season and is a capable wicketkeeper. The last time Australia called up a wicketkeeper beyond Carey or Inglis to the Test squad was when Jimmy Peirson joined the 2023 Ashes tour to cover for Inglis, who had flown home for the birth of his first child. The first round of the Sheffield Shield overlaps with the opening Test in South Africa, which limits the pool of available domestic players.
