New South Wales‘ hopes of making a last-ditch push for the Sheffield Shield final were ended by their heavy defeat to South Australia, leaving them with one chance to hand coach Greg Shipperd some departing silverware.
Shipperd was axed from both his NSW and Sydney Sixers roles in late January but opted to stay on with the state side until the end of the domestic season. They will face Tasmania in the One-Day Cup final in Hobart on Wednesday, playing for the Dean Jones Trophy, after securing their spot with a brilliant run chase against the same side in the final round of matches.
“We just want to send him off on a high,” wicketkeeper Josh Philippe told ESPNcricinfo. “So it’s great to make this one-day final. He was disappointed at the decision [over his jobs], but he loves cricket, he loves the group and he wants to win titles so we’re trying to do that as best as we can for him.”
On a personal level, Philippe believes his career would not be where it is without the influence of Shipperd with the pair having worked together at Sixers before Phillippe also moved to NSW for his state cricket in 2024.
“I’ve had a very good relationship with Shippy for a very long time,” he said. “I probably wouldn’t be here without him. So it’s certainly sad to see him go. I’ve been very close to him for a long time and particularly through the T20 side where I’ve spent pretty much all my career with him. He’s been amazing for me.”
Philippe expects to keep in contact after Shipperd departs. “I’m sure he’ll keep ringing me as well,” he joked.
It has been an interesting season for Philippe, who played a key role in NSW’s surge to the One-Day final with 58 off 29 balls to set up the high octane chase against Tasmania. Back in September he toured India with Australia A where he scored a century then found himself back in the ODI and T20I squads against India.
He started the BBL strongly, including 96 off 70 balls against Thunder, before fading in the latter part of the tournament then had a hasty trip to Pakistan as part of that T20I series. His top score in the Shield is the 81 he made two rounds ago against Tasmania.
“I still feel like I’m batting well,” he said. “It’s certainly a challenge sort of jumping in and out of the different teams and squads.”
In terms of his future opportunities in Australia’s T20I side, the indications to him are that they would come in the middle order. “I think the challenge is, from a T20 perspective, it’s probably looking like more of a down the order role,” he said. “In that keeper position, they’ve obviously got a lot of firepower at the top of the order. So I guess it’s just continuing to develop those skills in my game as well.
“I started my career in the middle, so it’s not completely abnormal, but I haven’t done much of it recently. I certainly pride myself on adaptability.”
