In-form Philippe an Aussie star in waiting: Hughes

Sydney Sixers captain Daniel Hughes believes it is only a matter of time until Josh Philippe is wearing Australia colours in the shortest format, after the young opener again played a decisive hand in his team's seven-wicket win over the Adelaide Strikers at Metricon Stadium on Sunday night.

Philippe made an entertaining 41 from 24 balls with five fours and one glorious six against a quality Strikers bowling attack, his straight hitting a particular feature of an innings that pushed him back to the top of the run-scorers charts in BBL|10, with 261 at 37.28 (strike-rate 144.19).

"He's a star, and I don't think it'll be too long before he's in the short-form for Australia," said Hughes.

"He's just going to keep getting better and better … he'll play for Australia for a few years, I'd say.

"We just tell him to play with freedom; be fearless, play what you see, and if you feel like you can take a bowler down, take them down."

Philippe's performances to date this summer have mirrored those of BBL|09, in which he averaged 37.46 and stroked five fifties, including a match-winning 52 in the final against Melbourne Stars.

Those efforts played a major part in the keeper-batsman then earning a place in Australia's white-ball squad for a tour of the UK last spring.

And while he blazed a stunning 95 in his second trip to the middle for the Sixers this summer, if there has been one piece of constructive criticism for the 23-year-old, it has come from Australia legend Mark Waugh; in commentary in the Sixers' recent match against the Renegades, the World Cup winner suggested the 'keeper-batsman should be more selective with his aggression, particularly when he’s already scoring briskly or has a run chase well in control.

That suggestion has perhaps been validated by the fact Philippe has exited in his past three innings while well set, making scores of 48, 48 and 41.

Post-match, while singing the hard-hitting right-hander's praises, Hughes did appear to share a similar sentiment.

"It's just playing the right shots when he needs to, keeping a cool head, staying calm," he explained.

"He doesn't need to hit the ball to the fence every ball, and you can sort of see that with the way he's batting – he's still learning, still learning how to build an innings and once he gets that, he'll go to the next level."

The Sixers now head to Perth riding high in first position, while Hughes said the omissions of veteran pair Jackson Bird and Steve O'Keefe on Sunday night was nothing more than squad management as the defending champs look to stay on top in the back half of the campaign.

"Those two are sweet – we just thought with back-to-back games, it was a good time to manage our squad," he added.

"We got a game into (debutant English recruit) Jack Ball and a game into (Lloyd) Pope, so it's been a positive night for us."