The constant negativity surrounding Shaun Marsh has become tedious. It’s time to embrace the man for who he is and realise he’s not going to disappear from the public consciousness anytime soon.
In fact, he may be around for a long, long time.
Marsh, a cricketer whose most commonly used descriptors are ‘great potential’ and ‘much maligned’, is 34 years old and likely headed towards the end of his illustrious(ish) career.
There can be no better place for him to transition into than politics.
Let’s face it, the most polarising cricketer in the country has everything it takes to be a highly successful politician: a respected name, a strong local following, an ability to influence those around him, and a Test average under 40.
Parliamentarians are subject to checks and balances and are criticised plenty, but no position in Australia comes under as much scrutiny as the Test team. Marsh is used to his every move being under a microscope, and it hasn’t seemed to have affected him.
There is little he couldn’t weather as PM, given that he has withstood near-constant criticism for the past seven years. He keeps on coming back, like a phoenix rising for the Ashes.
Calls for his removal, and subsequent actual removals, have done nothing to deter him and have barely registered as setbacks. This is a key attribute of the career politician since political knifings are about as common in this country as Steve Smith centuries (or at least as common as Shaun Marsh centuries).
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A successful politician in Australia is the one who steadfastly refuses to listen to people who tell them their best days are behind them (sounds like a certain cricketer I know… Shaun Marsh, it sounds like Shaun Marsh).
He is well known as a master of spin.
Marsh has come into the Test side on eight separate occasions, and each time his history of known failures are presented as triumphs. He is ‘experienced’ (old), he is ‘elegant’ (looks good for the short time he is actually batting), he is ‘healthier than ever’ (impossible).
Marsh has mastered the art of convincing people he has improved for the better, without having made any changes whatsoever. The best politician knows that as long as it looks good and sounds good, the rest is immaterial.
Finally, Marsh is a king of distraction. He always gives the public just enough to suggest progress, without delivering on the multitude of promises made before his selection.
Quite simply, in this crazy mixed-up world of ours, nothing makes more sense than Shaun Marsh becoming the Australian Prime Minister because nothing makes sense anymore.
Shaun Marsh could wield the power of the Prime Minister’s office much like he currently wields a bat. He has such great potential.
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