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When Shane Watson edged out Mitch Marsh for the all-rounder spot in the first Ashes Test, it was widely believed to be the veteran’s bowling which won him that battle.
Watson was seen by many cricket followers, and perhaps the selectors too, as being more effective with the ball, not just because of his far greater experience but a perception that he was more accurate and skilful.
Marsh, meanwhile, was derided by numerous cricket pundits, who portrayed him as a trundler with next to no chance of being incisive opposed to Test batsmen.
It was Marsh’s impossible-to-overlook touch with the blade that saw him earn a spot in the Australian side for the second Test at the expense of Watson, who had failed again with the bat at Cardiff.
Just over a week later and it is the 23-year-old’s bowling which has come to the fore and seemingly made him a lock for the rest of the Ashes.
First, he collected match figures of 3-31 at Lord’s, with all of his wickets being top six batsmen and two of them well-set players.
Then he backed that up by taking 4-41 from 15 overs in Australia’s tour match against Derby, including three dismissals of top-six batsmen. It remains to be seen whether he will be taken seriously as a bowler from now on.
Even his successes with the ball have been talked down by his detractors. When he snared a five-for in the opening match of the World Cup against England it was painted by some as a fluky performance which had more to do with England’s ineptitude than Marsh’s competence.
When he got the key wicket of Alastair Cook for 96 in the first innings at Lord’s, after earlier dislodging Ben Stokes for 87, there were snide remarks that the English skipper would be embarrassed to be dismissed by Marsh.
Many people clearly didn’t believe that Marsh’s bowling was close to the level required from a Test all-rounder. Maybe they had been fooled by Marsh’s Test record to that point.
Prior to Lord’s he had to his name figures of 1-164 from his four Tests. It’s easy to see how that would be interpreted as a significant failure.
What was overlooked was that he had bowled on four absolute roads, including two pitches in the UAE which are as benign as any I’ve seen at Test level. Granted, he had not proved penetrative to that point and would have to get used to operating on lifeless surfaces.
Yet he had impressed me with one aspect of his bowling I previously had not viewed as a strength – his capacity for stemming the run rate.
Despite the batting paradises on which he had operated, Marsh had conceded just 2.68 runs per over. In the seven innings he had bowled against Pakistan and India, only once had he given up three runs per over or more.
This is the kind of holding role which Australia require of their fifth bowler. Their frontline quicks offer them sufficient strike power so the all-rounder’s main task is to build pressure while they rest.
It is a job which Watson has done time and again but one which I was not sure Marsh could fulfill when he debuted in Tests.
Being from Perth, I had seen a lot of Marsh playing for Western Australia, with whom he had made a name for himself as an impact bowler.
His strike rate with the ball in Sheffield Shield cricket is 49. That is a figure which any specialist quick would be glad to own, particularly when coupled with an average of 27.
Marsh was a bowler that WA turned to when they needed a breakthrough, not when they required the run rate to be choked.
Part of the reason that Marsh had proved such an impactful bowler in the Shield was that he hurried batsmen and earned sharp lift.
Many of his critics seem not to have seen much, if any, of Marsh’s efforts in the Shield. They classify him as a medium pacer. He is not.
So far in his international career Marsh largely has bowled well within himself due to a patent lack of confidence in his body, which has betrayed him regularly in recent years.
When he is fit and letting himself go, Marsh is as swift as Ben Stokes – consistently in the high 130s and touching 146/147km/h.
At Lord’s we saw some evidence that he is finally regaining faith in his fragile chassis and taking off the hand brake. He pushed his pace up to 143km/h, the fastest we have seen from him in Tests, but I think he still has more left in the tank.
As he grows into his body and his place in the side, we’ll very likely see even more speed and similarly pivotal spells from Marsh. It’s folly to underestimate his bowling.