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How Shaun Marsh managed to break back into the Australian test side before Phil Hughes is beyond me.
This season he has played five matches and scored 248 runs at an average of 31 with just one century. He is well below par.
Marsh debuted for Western Australia way back in the 2000-01 Sheffield Shield season. Since then he has played 87 matches and managed 4956 first class runs at an average of 35.40.
These are hardly statistics which say “pick me”.
I’ve heard people say statistics don’t count for much but over a long period time, these numbers matter.
If a player is relatively new to first class cricket and averages 35 you can say he has the potential to improve.
Marsh has played 13 years of first class cricket without scoring the big runs. Potential is not an excuse anymore.
You might say George Bailey had been quite poor form the last few seasons before being picked for The Ashes.
That’s correct. But George Bailey was picked on the back of his Bradman-esque form in the one day format. (Yes I know Bradman never played one day cricket).
Bailey scored an amazing 478 runs from six innings at an average of 95.60 during the one day series in India. It might not have been red ball cricket but it was runs on the board.
In 13 years of first class cricket Marsh has scored just nine first class centuries, less than one per season.
You need to be consistently getting big scores to be considered for Test match cricket.
Take a look at someone who consistently scores run in Shield cricket, Phillip Hughes for example. During Phil Hughes’ career he has played 106 first class matches for 8381 at an average of 45.54.
He debuted for New South Wales in 2007 and has scored 24 centuries since. He is still only 25 years old.
Hughes’s first class average is 10 higher than Marsh’s.
Yet somehow Marsh was originally on the plane to South Africa before Hughes.
Hughes only averages 32.65 from 26 Tests with three centuries.
With time his average will go up. He’s a class above when it comes to the Sheffield Shield. This season he scored 549 runs at an average of 61 from just five matches.
Okay so Marsh scored a century one Test ago against South Africa, the second of his career. That’s wonderful, but he also got in the zilch last Test.
Two ducks. Quack quack.
In his 15 Test innings to date, he has scored six ducks. That’s right, six He’s scored three twice. So that means in more than half of his Test innings he’s scored three or less.
On another note, when he’s fully fit I’d like to see James Faulkner get an extended run in the Test team.
He’s still only 23 years old, averages 24 with the ball which is outstanding. But he averages 30 with the bat and in my opinion, his batting is only going to get better.
Obviously he is more a bowler than batsmen.
He’s been batting a bit in the top six for Tasmania. I’d like to somehow fit him into the Test team whether it is at seven or eight.
Shaun Marsh is an excellent one day and Twenty20 player, but quite ordinary in the long form. He’s not up to the consistency of Test match cricket.
If you think he deserves to play Test cricket for Australia, then tell me why. I’d love to hear it.
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