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Pictured in the baggy green, Geoff and Shaun Marsh bear an uncanny resemblance. Events of this summer have also led this rare Test cricket playing duo to share more than just an external visage.
Right now they must both harbour some rather dark and confused thoughts about cricket as they pay the price for the erroneous judgements of those who determine their livelihoods.
Dean Jones’ Sunday Age batting critiques are well worth a read. He believes Shaun Marsh’s problems essentially stem from an aversion to digging in for the fight – unlike the born again run machines Ponting and Clarke.
While this may be partly true (though oddly counterintuitive to the Marsh genealogy), I’m more inclined to equate this perceived lack of application as a crisis of confidence.
Anyone who’s strapped the pads on, whatever the level, will know how this feels at some stage of their careers. The pill assumes the dimensions of an acorn.
And instead of an instinctive response, one is hopelessly constricted by over thinking technique to compensate for a disrupted muscle memory.
Perhaps underpinning Marsh’s ills is the simple fact that a first class batting average under 40, at 28 years of age, doesn’t bode well for a number 3 batsman at Test level. Not even a fourth or fifth drop for that matter – unless donning the gloves or doubling as a useful leather flinger.
While Marsh may have briefly enjoyed a sense of belonging following his debut hundred against Sri Lanka, conceivably it was never going to take much of a form lapse to rattle his psyche.
The Marsh leap of faith initially promised to be one of the more inspired judgements in recent memory, however it was undone, and then some, by the unyielding faith apparently championed by coach Mickey Arthur.
Marsh’s obviously undercooked appearance in the Boxing Day Test, and bullish selection thereafter, defied common sense and did him no favours. He’s consequently become easy prey for media and fans, much like a stuck duck in a shooting gallery (it’s contagious, sorry).
This, I believe, is far more worthy of scorn than the player himself. To see the way Marsh flailed about in Adelaide was uncomfortable viewing. Surely his rapid decline was evident in the nets?
Meanwhile, just three months into a two year contract, Geoff Marsh has fallen victim to a bizarre setup in Sri Lanka whereby the government, via the Sports Minister, has the power to set the cricket agenda on matters such as the hiring and firing of the national coach.
Agreeing with Arjuna Ranatunga feels as wrong as a deep fried Mars Bar (notwithstanding Ranatunga and deep fried Mars Bar represents a natural word association), but he was right to say that top coaches will henceforth shy away from accepting jobs with Sri Lanka.
“It is like changing the pillow to fix a headache” said Arjuna of Graham Ford’s appointment as the fourth coach since the 2011 World Cup.
Sri Lanka’s government and cricket administration either don’t realise, or care, that such inept handling of the position goes to their own inadequacies. Perhaps they’re just not accountable to anyone but the powerless cricket loving public. Instructively, the justification was all about a better future – with no actual mention of any failings or weaknesses of Marsh as a coach.
At least in Geoff’s favour, any future employers, should they exercise reasonable judgement (that word again), will afford his disastrous Sri Lankan episode the level of importance it deserves.
As a player, whether Shaun can sway the people that matter so readily is easier said than done, for it will take a welter of runs to restore faith in his ability in the long form of the game.
While his demotion would seem a fait accompli, the blind faith that condemned him to such spectacular failure at least demonstrates those running cricket in Australia appreciate the merits of exhibiting some belief in their charges. A concept Sri Lanka would do well to avail itself.
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