Eng vs NZ – Glenn Phillips dedicates maiden Test hundred to late dad ‘watching in some station’

Glenn Phillips dedicated his maiden Test hundred to his late father Roland, after reaching the milestone one day before the first anniversary of his death.

Phillips became only the third New Zealand player to score international hundreds in all three formats, after Brendon McCullum and Martin Guptill, when he steered Jofra Archer into the off side on the second morning at The Oval. He celebrated his hundred by raising his bat and looking to the sky, and later revealed the significance of the moment.

“It’s the anniversary of my dad’s passing tomorrow,” Phillips said. “Hopefully, with our boys doing their thing, maybe I’m not going to be needed tomorrow. But today is close enough for the moment to matter, and he’s been a big role in my life. I know he would have loved to be here to see that, and Test cricket was his favourite format… I know he’s watching in some station.”

Phillips scored his hundred in three distinct phases. He raced out of the blocks on Wednesday night, pinging Sonny Baker and Josh Tongue through the off side to reach 33 off his first 23 balls. Phillips then scored 16 off his next 51 deliveries to reach 49 not out overnight, withstanding a short-ball barrage from Archer. On Thursday, he added 51 off his last 61 balls to reach exactly 100.

Phillips’ battle with Archer was gripping viewing, as he repeatedly swayed inside the line and collapsed onto his back side to avoid a series of vicious bouncers aimed at his throat. Phillips said he felt a sense of déjà vu, having previously withstood a similar spell while playing for New Zealand A in a tour match in late 2019.

“We’ve actually had one of those duels before, six or seven years back in New Zealand, and he pretty much hit me in the exact same spots all over,” Phillips said. “He bowls with great heat, great accuracy, and he just kept coming back… Obviously, it was a thrilling contest for the crowd to see as well, and sometimes you’ve just got to enjoy it, laugh, and hope for the best.”

Phillips scored 13 runs off the 44 balls he faced from Archer in total, of which only three came on the second morning, with England’s stand-in captain Joe Root seemingly conscious of managing his workload after an eight-over spell the night before. He plundered 87 runs off the 91 deliveries he faced from England’s other bowlers, taking a particular liking to Baker.

Remarkably, Phillips has only batted in the top six in one of his 19 Tests, on debut in Sydney in early 2020 as a late replacement for Kane Williamson and Henry Nicholls. But that fact underlines the determination of New Zealand’s management to find him a role in the side, given his obvious talent, athleticism, and dedication to self-improvement across disciplines.

Phillips said that he felt like his maiden hundred was “always coming” but downplayed the significance of the milestone, citing Williamson’s team-first mindset. “Kane obviously speaks about it quite a lot: we score our runs, but they’re never our runs,” Phillips said. “We’re just custodians of those runs for the team. We try to do things for the team.”

“[I was] not necessarily training red-ball cricket per se, but having that same mindset of being still, trying to keep my head as still as possible, and play the ball as late as possible, under my eyes.”
Glenn Phillips was readying himself for Tests even during IPL

Phillips was the leading run-scorer in a low-scoring first Test at Lord’s, and is the only centurion on either side to date, despite the fact that he had not played for six weeks leading into the series after he was dropped by Gujarat Titans midway through the IPL.

“I still had to be prepared to play, but we were very, very lucky at Gujarat with the amount of facilities that we had,” he said. “[I was] not necessarily training red-ball cricket per se, but having that same mindset of being still, trying to keep my head as still as possible, and play the ball as late as possible, under my eyes. Definitely, there was time to be able to have those sorts of nets sessions, do my throwdowns.

“We were very spoiled for choice over there with the number of facilities and people that we had on board… It’s just a matter of trying to get used to that red ball when you get over here, and obviously the Dukes is always slightly different [to the Kookaburra]. For me, it was then about making that adjustment when we got to Lord’s, trying to adjust as quick as possible.”

Matt Roller is a senior correspondent at ESPNcricinfo. @mroller98

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