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Shaun Marsh must be wondering if he has recently killed a black cat with a broken mirror while walking under a ladder, so poor has his form been since returning to Test cricket team.
After being named in the Argus report as one of five personnel vital to returning the team to the top of world rankings in all three forms of the game, Marsh debuted against Sri Lanka at Pallekele and scored a superb 141, backing it up with an impressive 81 in his next Test.
Since then, however, Marsh succumbed to a back injury during the Newlands debacle against South Africa, and returned to the Test team to take on India.
Against the latter, his series reads 0, 3, 0, DNB, 11, and DNB, for a grand total of 14 runs in four innings across three matches. His Test batting average has dropped to 33.11.
Even under normal circumstances a run of dismissals like that (I don’t count the duck at Newlands because he had already injured his back) would see a player under threat to retain his position in the team. What makes Marsh’s situation untenable is that he returned to the Test side at the expense of Usman Khawaja.
In his three-Test stint (as Marsh’s injury replacement against the stronger bowling attacks of South Africa and New Zealand), Khawaja posted scores of 12, 65, 38, 0*, 7, and 23. It is worth noting that Khawaja’s score of 7 in the first innings at Bellerive is his only single figure dismissal in six Tests.
Perhaps even more telling is that recently dumped opener Phil Hughes (whose last four dismissals were all edged to second slip) posted scores of 10, 7, 4, and 20 before being shown the door. Hughes was sent away to work on his technique.
All four of Shaun Marsh’s dismissals have involved playing at balls he shouldn’t have, and either being caught in the arc between point and the wicketkeeper or dragging the ball back onto his stumps. Surely the same punishment must be dealt out to him.
There is a difference between showing a young batsman faith and patience and ignoring poor performance. I think Marsh will be retained for the final Test in Adelaide, but it will expose the new selection panel as sycophants playing favourites.
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