With the summer of cricket rapidly approaching, attention has turned to team selection as Australia look to beat South Africa in a series on home soil for the first time since 2006.
While the core of the side seems set, several positions, including David Warner’s opening partner and the number three spot, are up for the taking.
Joe Burns and Usman Khawaja were the incumbents heading into the Sri Lankan tour, but a weak first two Tests saw both of them dropped, with Shaun Marsh and Moises Henriques coming in. While Henriques offered little, Marsh was tremendously impressive, scoring 130 in the first innings, with only his brother Mitchell and captain Steve Smith producing more than 25 runs during that innings.
Incredibly, and despite a brilliant 182 in his last Test innings in Australia against the West Indies, Marsh’s spot is in jeopardy for the first Test. If he is to be dropped, it certainly won’t have anything to do with fitness concerns after Marsh crafted a dogged 73 on the opening day of the Sheffield Shield.
Somehow, there is the very real possibility that Burns and Khawaja will both make the squad at Marsh’s expense, and if that does happen, I will explode.
It’s not that Marsh has scored two centuries in his past two Tests or that he was one of the only players who offered resistance to spin bowling in Sri Lanka, it’s because he is the incumbent and he has done nothing to play himself out of the position.
To me, that should be enough to see him given the first crack against the South Africans.
Marsh has had an interesting career to date. He made a century on debut batting at number three, long thought of as the domain of the side’s best batsman. A nightmarish summer against India in 2011/12, which yielded just 17 runs in six innings at an average below three, saw him put on the shelf for more than two years.
When Marsh was included for the third Test against New Zealand in late 2015, I was one of the many shaking my head at his inclusion. Here was a guy who had been given every chance to make it at the top level and who hadn’t ever been able to repay the faith.
Why should players like Alex Doolan, George Bailey, Brad Hodge and Rob Quiney be permanently exiled from the Test team after limited opportunities, only for the Shaun Marshes of the world to receive infinite chances at making it?
But this time, Marsh took his chance with both hands. A nightmarish run out in the first innings appeared to validate the doubters, but an outstanding 49 on a difficult day-night wicket during the second innings against a fired up New Zeland bowling attack was the best innings I had seen him play.
While he went on to rack up a massive 182 against the West Indies in Hobart in the very next Test, his Adelaide innings was not only his best but one of the best innings by an Australian all summer.
Khawaja and Burns scored truckloads of runs that summer but the pitches they scored them on were as flat as a road. In five of the six Tests Australia played that summer, the team exceeded 500 runs in the first innings. In the Adelaide Test when the ball was genuinely moving, and batting conditions were as difficult as we’ve seen in Australia for quite some time, Burns could only muster 14 and 11.
Khawaja didn’t play in that Test, but under similar pressure in Sri Lanka, with the team under the pump, he was all at sea. His first-ball duck in the second Test, with the team 2/10 chasing 413, was symbolic of the batsman I believe he is; he shouldered arms, underestimating the spin, only to have the ball cannon into his stumps.
Burns scored 34 runs in that Sri Lanka series and 25 more in Adelaide. Khawaja managed 55. That’s ten innings between them, with a combined total of 114 runs. That’s in the Test conditions that have been the most difficult for batsmen over that period. And Marsh outscored them all in one innings on another dicey pitch in the third Test.
I’m not saying Burns and Khawaja’s flat-track performances are entirely irrelevant. Indeed, one of them should play in the first Test, and I hope that man will be Khawaja.
But if both players are chosen ahead of Shaun Marsh, the man who has performed exceptionally on the most difficult pitches Australia has faced over the last year, then you guessed it, I will explode.
Matthew H
Guest
That is one of the most intelligent suggestions I have heard Adrian. I can definitely stomach Shaun Marsh at 5. It does rankle me to see him picked a the top of the order.
Doogs
Guest
lol. Thanks Adrian. Spontaneous explosion. I like that. Yes it is a nice problem to have. Burns batted great in the latest Shield match but Marsh got the spot and it was always going to be close between them.
spruce moose
Guest
Break down those stats further. He's good for a decent first knock, and then the bowlers figure him out. His first class record is a joke. There are equally capable younger players who should be given the nod before he.
Keggas
Guest
JamesH your own logic destroy's your argument. You say that Burns should be returned because of his form here at home last summer. Last summer Marsh got two tests in which he was the best batsmen against the pink ball in Adelaide and made an unbeaten hundred in Hobart. How is that form last summer inferior to Burns? You argue is Marsh's hammy isn't up to it, when Usman missed games last year with a dodgy hammy. You argue that Burns and Usman are 'clearly still in form' while ignoring that Marsh made a 70 in the last one dayer and has followed that up with a 70 and 100 in the shield. Finally perhaps you need to check the definition on incumbent! Marsh deserves his spot in the first test however hard that may be for the majority of roarers to accept
dan ced
Guest
OK ya bastards, Klinger only got 30 in innings 2, so I'm giving up on him making the Test squad :'( Warner, Smersh, Khawaja/Ferg, Smith, Voges, Head/M.Marsh, Nevill, Starc, Mennie, Lyon, Hazelwood [Sayers 12th] I have Head/Mennie/Zampa beacuse they all have RECENT experience against the SA players, and in the AUS team.
rett
Guest
Shaun Marsh? No,no,no!
Adrian
Guest
Doogs, one mustn't make light of the risk of selection-related spontaneous explosion. Just to throw another permutation into the equation, Marsh just added a 2nd innings ton to his first inning 73, and Burns is 8no after his first innings 129. While Voges has not made runs in this game - 20-odd and a duck, and also had an ordinary tour of SL, and not the youngest member of the team. Could a case be made for Burns opening, Ussie 3 (criticism of selectors not withstanding, and S Marsh at 5 in place of Voges? Several batsmen making a case - nice problem to have.
Doogs
Guest
Hi Tim. While I admire your passion and support for Shaun Marsh, I have followed Test Cricket closely for 40 years and cannot recall exploding over a selection. It is the nature of selections in any sport. It is impossible to keep everyone happy. I hope you don't explode as that would be a shame.
matth
Guest
Although I am no Marsh fan, why is it ridiculous? It may be wrong but it is certainly arguable. Marsh has averaged 47 over the past couple of years in test cricket, when given the opportunity.
matth
Guest
Uzi did, however, criticise the selectors. That may be a factor.
Pedro the Maroon
Guest
Just click bait from Geoff Marsh writing under pseudonym.
spruce moose
Guest
My stars this is a brave article. I'd sooner castrate myself with a rusty spoon than associate myself with this ridiculous line of argument. I salute your bravery sir.
Joel
Guest
can we just put ferguson in and be done with it..
Adrian
Guest
Don't explode Tim, Talk to someone... Lifeline, or BeyondBlue, perhaps. In seriousness, I think whichever way selectors go, someone will be entitled to feel hard done by. I reckon Usman is a lock-in - and it's between Marsh and Burns - Marsh has done nothing wrong in in the chances hes's been given in the last year, and Burns did great last summer, and had just two bad tests in Sri Lanka (and really, wasn't on his own there). How much do you reckon relative ages will be a factor?
JamesH
Roar Guru
Seriously?!? Burns and Khawaja showed that they weren't up to the spinning conditions in SL but dropping them for the home series would be be kneejerk. They were both fantastic in these conditions last summer and they also impressed in New Zealand. They are clearly still in form at home too, given their recent efforts in the Shield. I don't consider Marsh to be the incumbent - he was brought in as a stop-gap for a dead rubber because he has shown he could bat in spinning conditions. By your logic Henriques is also an incumbent, in which case he surely deserves more than one match before being dropped. Marsh might well be up to the task but he is still firmly behind Burns and Khawaja in the pecking order, as he should be. Plus, he's coming back from injury and I'm not convinced his hammy would last the summer.
Junior Coach
Guest
Yep he's going in the team to improve the Sth African slip catching , and to sharpen the finger raising of the international umpiring panel
Lancey5times
Guest
You're clearly new to the sport of cricket