Wayne B. Phillips

Wayne Bentley Phillips (born 1 March 1958) is a former Australian cricketer who played in 27 Test matches and 48 One Day Internationals (ODIs) between 1982 and 1986 as a batsman and wicket-keeper.

He made his first class debut during the 1977–78 season, when the state sides had been depleted due to World Series Cricket.

Over the summer he played three Sheffield Shield matches and a single one-day match as a middle-order batsman, with a top score of 22.

He played for South Australia between 1978 and 1991.

Phillips played cricket as a wicketkeeper at high school, but concentrated on batting once he started grade cricket with Sturt district cricket club.

He would occasionally keep wicket and was a reserve wicketkeeper with Australian under-age teams, but soon established himself as a specialist batsman.

Phillips did not play first class cricket again until the 1980–81 season, when he was picked for South Australia's last match of the Sheffield Shield.

He made the most of his opportunity, scoring 111 and 91 as an opener against Victoria.

Phillips established himself as an opening batsman over the 1981–82 season, scoring 857 first class runs at an average of 47.61, forming a strong opening combination with Rick Darling and making an important contribution to South Australia winning the Sheffield Shield that summer.

He scored a century against the visiting Pakistan side and 260 against Queensland – the first double century from a South Australian batsman in ten years.

These results saw Phillips selected in the Australian squad to tour Pakistan that winter as a batsman and reserve keeper.

There was a spot open in the Australian batting line up as Greg Chappell was not touring.

Phillips was in competition with Greg Ritchie.

A score of 92 in a tour game against the Pakistan Invitation XI saw Phillips selected to make his one-day international debut in the final match of that series.

Unfortunately the game was called off due to a riot.

Phillips scored consistently throughout the 1982–83 season, scoring 680 runs at an average of 37.77.

He made centuries against New South Wales and Tasmania.

Graeme Wood was dropped as opener after the first test, but his spot was given to Kepler Wessels, a South African batsman who had been in excellent form for Queensland for several seasons and only just become eligible for Australian selection.

Nonetheless, Phillips remained on the radar of Australian selectors.

He was picked as 12th man for the 3rd test, and selected in a Young Australian side to tour Zimbabwe in early 1983 as a wicketkeeper batsman.

The highlight of this tour for Phillips was scoring 135 in a one-day game.

After this success, commentators started talking about Phillips as a possible Australian wicketkeeper.

Phillips began the 1983–84 summer superbly with 234 against Tasmania and 75 against the touring Pakistan side.

He was selected as opener in Australia's side for the first test against Pakistan, replacing John Dyson and partnering Kepler Wessels.

Phillips had an excellent debut, scoring 159 in the first innings and helping set up a huge Australian victory; he also took three catches.

He captained South Australia in a game against Queensland, scoring 14.

In the rain-shortened second test, Phillips scored 46.

He made 1 and 21 for South Australia against WA, then made 12 and 54 in the third test; his second innings half century helped Australia secure a draw.

Phillips made 5 and 36 against NSW in a Shield game, then he scored 35 in the fourth test and 37 and 19 not out in the fifth; Phillips had made 362 runs in the series at an average of 60.33.

During the summer Phillips was also picked as wicketkeeper for some one day games for South Australia, which led to further calls for Rod Marsh to be dropped and replaced as keeper by Phillips.

When Marsh scored a half century in an ODI he raised his bat in the direction of the press box.

Rod Marsh had retired as Australia's wicketkeeper at the end of the 1983–84 season and it was expected his replacement would be Roger Woolley, who kept wicket for the first two tour games.

Phillips played as a specialist batsman in these games – in the first, against Leeward Islands, he made 27 and 23 (off 109 balls) although he and Wessels put on 114 together.

In the second, against Guyana, Phillips made 1 and 62.

During the Leeward Island game, Phillips and Greg Ritchie were reprimanded for arriving 75 minutes late on day two.

In the first ODI, Phillips was picked as wicketkeeper and batted at seven Steve Smith, played as opener; Smith scored a 60 in that game, and that fact, on top of Smith scoring twin centuries in the Guyana game, led to discussion that Phillips would be dropped for Smith in the first test.

However, Woolley had a chipped bone in his right index finger and the selectors felt having Phillips as keeper would strengthen Australia's batting.

"We couldn't risk a keeper who was not 100% sure of his fitness," said Hughes.

This allowed them to pick Smith as opener to bat alongside Kepler Wessels.

Phillips had only kept in four first-class games beforehand.