Philippe pulls out of IPL as WA players quarantine

Rising star Josh Philippe has pulled out of this year's IPL after a hectic summer that saw him make his international debut, but it remains unclear if he will return for Western Australia this season.

Philippe, who has been in various hubs and bubbles since his maiden Australia tour of England last August, is currently serving 14 days of home isolation mandated by the Western Australian government after returning home from New Zealand where he made his T20 international debut.

It's a situation he shares with the eight other Western Aussies who were part of the Australia side that lost the T20 series with NZ 2-3.

That group includes Ashton Agar, Jason Behrendorff, Mitch Marsh, Jhye Richardson, D'Arcy Short, Marcus Stoinis, Ashton Turner and Andrew Tye, all players with a strong claim to be in WA's first-choice XI in at least one format.

But unlike most others, Philippe, who plays with the Sydney Sixers in the KFC BBL, had not been home since August, having gone from Australia's England tour to the IPL in Dubai, then straight into the BBL hub after two weeks of hotel quarantine in Sydney, and then immediately to New Zealand following the BBL|10 Final.

Stoinis is the only other player in a similar boat, but at least enjoyed a break between the Melbourne Stars’ exit from BBL|10 and the NZ tour departure.

Philippe, who played all five games on Australia's tour of NZ, hitting 105 runs at a strike-rate of 120.68, was set to reunite with cricket superstars Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers for a second season at Royal Challengers Bangalore, who also snapped up Glenn Maxwell at this year's auction.

The 23-year-old was retained by the club for this season on a A$35,000 deal.

"The RCB Management is disappointed to lose a player of Josh’s calibre for this IPL season, but at the same time we fully understand, respect and support his decision of excluding himself from the tournament," the club said in a statement overnight.

Given the home quarantine restrictions placed on the Western Australians, they will face physical fitness testing before returning to action in state cricket.

With Shaun Marsh also on personal leave for a family issue, WA's hopes of defending their Marsh Cup title and competing for a drought-breaking Sheffield Shield title may depend on how quickly their quarantined players can get up to match fitness.

With the WA players not clearing their home quarantine requirements until March 21, the Marsh Cup game against Victoria on March 23 and subsequent Shield clash against the same opponents from March 25 would appear to come too soon for players unable to bat or bowl for two full weeks. 

WA then host Tasmania for a Shield clash from April 3-6 then a one-day game on April 8.

With the IPL season due to begin on April 9, it would seem unlikely any of Mitch Marsh, Richardson, Stoinis or Tye will feature for their state for the remainder of the season.

That leaves Agar, Behrendorff, Short, Turner and now, potentially, Philippe available for the remainder of the domestic campaign, with WA seeking to end a 21-year Sheffield Shield title drought.