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. Test Batsman Phillips became 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 Shielf 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. Wicket-keeper 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