It took years for me to warm up to Shaun Marsh as a Test player. Maybe my expectations were too high.
I was in a unique position to witness the extraordinary skills of the West Australian batsman as they developed.
As a kid, Marsh played for Willetton in the South Metropolitan Cricket Association. I was a leg spinner for Kelmscott, one of Willetton’s rivals.
From the ages of 10 to 15 I played against Marsh at least half a dozen times. Never once did I take his wicket. Never once did my team dismiss him. Never once did he do anything other than flay our attack with the utmost ease.
My teammates and I would sit around after our games against Willetton and talk about Marsh as if he were the lead character of an action movie. He didn’t seem human.
How can someone be that good? Has he lost his wicket, ever? Does his bat possess magic? Even at that age there was no doubt he would play for Australia.
“He’ll probably be as good as Steve Waugh”, my mate said. “He might be that good now,” I replied, not entirely in jest.
Not long after he finished embarrassing me and my teammates Marsh made his professional debut aged just 17 and Waugh was an opponent when he struck his debut first-class ton in 2003.
That century came against a supreme New South Wales attack that included Stuart MacGill, Stuart Clark and Doug Bollinger. At that stage Marsh was, to my mind, the most gifted young batsman in the country, even better than Michael Clarke, who would the following year spank an extraordinary 151 on Test debut in India.
Yet it took 11 years of first-class cricket for Marsh to finally earn a Test cap. By that stage he was 28 years old and had a first-class batting average in the mid-30s, at least ten runs too low for a batsman of his extravagant gifts.
His first four innings in Test cricket included three gems. He struck 141 on debut against Sri Lanka in Pallekele followed by 81 in his next knock at Colombo. Then he made a dogged 44 against a white-hot South African attack which had reduced Australia to 3-40 on a spicy Newlands deck in the Test in which the Proteas were dismissed for 97 and Australia were all out for just 47.
Like most Australians fans at the time I was massively impressed by Marsh and was pencilling him in to be a cornerstone of the Test line-up for the following five or six years. Then it all fell apart. Marsh’s next seven Test innings were 0, 0, 3, 0, 11, 3, 0.
He was promptly sent back to play for the Western Warriors. Marsh continued to under-perform at domestic level and I lost all faith in the elegant left hander.
I was shocked and annoyed when he was picked in the Test team in South Africa in 2014, despite having averaged just 21 in first-class cricket since the start of the 2011-12 summer. It was Marsh’s inconsistency which wore me down and which ensured there were few Australian fans who had confidence in his ability.
Finally, over the past two years, Marsh seems to have peaked as a cricketer. In that time, he has cracked 832 runs at an average of 46 from his ten Tests, and made 1405 runs at 59 in the Sheffield Shield. Most importantly, he looked at ease against spin in Sri Lanka while the rest of the team crumbled.
While his batting colleagues variously looked panicked or impatient or bamboozled, Marsh batted with calm and confidence against Rangana Herath and co. It was no fluke. In his three Tests in Asia, Marsh has piled up 393 runs at an average of 79, including two wonderful tons.
He would be just about my first batsman picked for the upcoming four-Test series of India. It would be bold to leave him out of that tour and I don’t think the selectors will.
So he needs to come straight back into the team against Pakistan or he will be left with very little red ball batting before India.
Former Australian opener Michael Slater argued that 20-year-old opener Matt Renshaw should give way for Marsh, who had been opening the batting in Tests when he got injured.
I think Renshaw showed tremendous grit and promise on debut last week and should be retained with Marsh to instead replace flashy middle order batsman Nic Maddinson.
The New South Welshman was extremely lucky to be picked for Australia, as I argued last week, Maddinson did not force his way into the team through weight of runs, instead he was picked on potential, just as Marsh was for years. Now Marsh has form behind him which cannot be ignored.
A versatile cricketer who has batted anywhere from one to six in the order for WA, Marsh should slot in at five for the first Test against Pakistan.
My team for the first Test against Pakistan
1. David Warner
2. Matt Renshaw
3. Usman Khawaja
4. Steve Smith
5. Shaun Marsh
6. Peter Handscomb
7. Matthew Wade
8. Mitchell Starc
9. Josh Hazlewood
10. Nathan Lyon
11. Jackson Bird
Francis
Guest
I think I agree with your selection for the Oz team against Pakistan, but unless Shaun Marsh averages at least in the high forties, he should really be discarded for good. Unfortunately Maddinson hasn't been given a real chance yet, and having seen him play in the Matador Cup, he would be my strongest pick to replace Marsh.
bearfax
Guest
Does this window of opportunity have a fly screen. Would hate it if your efforts were deferred by bugs interfering and delaying with your processes
Lachlan
Guest
I have managed to make contact with Mr Dalliard's assistant Mr Constantine. He is of the opinion that Mr Dalliard may in fact head to Lisbon straight from Goa, meaning there is a fairly good chance of being able to read the article in the late March to early April window. It's tremendously exciting. I'll get back to you the moment I hear anything from Mr Constantine.
bearfax
Guest
T'was an obviously poor attempt at humour on my part Lachlan. Please excuse my poor attempt.
Lachlan
Guest
I was attempting to make the point that my frantic schedule simply doesn't allow me time to read the article so any comment I might make on the said article would be uninformed and therefore not worth making. I do apologise but I am just too busy at the moment. It is possible that there may be a window of opportunity to read the article in early April 2017 if Mr Dalliard returns from Lisbon in time. I'll try and keep you posted.
bearfax
Guest
But Lachlan. Wasnt that a comment you just made?
Lachlan
Guest
I didn't have time to read this article so there's really no point in leaving a comment.
madmonk
Guest
I did count his test runs. I reckon 60 not at the WACA against the Saffers is worth counting.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
I suspect that's only Nevill's second Shield match of the season though, because he played the first two tests, so he still may not have covered the aggregate of Hartley. Oops, sorry, just notice Rellum's comment after writing this.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
Unfortunately for Maxwell, just at the time when there's a chance of a spot opening up he's really been struggling with the bat of late. He just needs to go out and get more runs at Shield cricket first, get confidence with the bat to give him every chance to succeed. I think if he's picked now he'll likely fail and get dumped and just pigeon holed as a white ball player, but if he can get some good Shield batting form under his belt before getting selected he's got more chance to succeed. The difficulty with CA's scheduling is that ODI players tend to miss most of the second half of the Shield season. Maxwell needs to try and get himself a County cricket contract for the winter. Get out there and play a good winter of first class cricket.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
The thing is, with his "slower balls". He needs to change his approach to white ball cricket too. His slower balls are getting too predictable and teams that have played Australia a fair bit like India and SA are just sitting back knowing every ball is going to be a slower ball and smacking him. So he needs to change that up too. Maybe more focus on the faster balls and swinging it around would be a good thing for his short form game also!
bearfax
Guest
I had noticed and remarked about Doran's improvement this year. Nothing spectacular but a gradual improvement with scores of 31, 41 and 66 in his last 3 innings. I also noted he had taken quite a few catches behind the stumps this year as well. Question is, will he make that breakthrough innings this year
armchair expert
Guest
If Doran has a couple of solid seasons with the gloves and bat he could become your next 10 year test keeper, apparently he's starting to find form in shield cricket.
Steele
Guest
Hey Chris, your making way too much sense for Cricket Australia! Imagine that batting depth if you swapped Okeefe and Faulkner for Lyon and Bird? I actually would prefer that lineup. You could also swap Maddinson for Maxwell and have a part time offie and once in a generation fielder?
Steele
Guest
Ahh the irony. For so long I've complained about players being selected on potential instead of looking at the form guides. Chris Rogers being a perfect example. The Marsh family have been the biggest recipients of this fortune. Now it appears your somehow using that logic to suit your narrative? Shaun has obviously been on the upward curve lately but he certainly can't be considered unlucky to miss out . Having said that I agree with everything you said about his confidence with spin and I too would pick him! Heh heh. I'm just trying to find a way to squeeze Faulkner into the eleven. He's the missing all rounder in my eyes, especially in Indian conditions.
Basil
Guest
He played well in India last year. Are you aware of that, or only follow the home summer because the footy seasons over?
John Erichsen
Roar Guru
His maiden ton was batting at three behind Watson and Hughes. His four test hundreds have all been scored batting in a different position. That could suggest some versatility with Shaun and where he bats. Personally, I am not a big Shaun Marsh fan, as his first class record speaks volumes about the vast chasm between his best and his next best. However, he has done little wrong since returning to the side and it seems harsh to drop him. He is also proven in the test arena to make runs on slow turning wickets so should be a must for India. If Marsh does play, it should be Maddinson who misses out. Not so much because of his duck on debut, but rather that his red ball performances suggest he should never have been picked ahead of Patterson to start with.
Brian
Guest
We can't let a dead rubber victory mask over the fact that a few blokes in the side have been abysmal at best the past year or so. My side for the first test against Pakistan would be: Renshaw, Warner, Khawaja, Smith, Marsh, Handscomb, Nevill, SOK (his massive three second innings wickets, including a tail ender and a bloke hopeless against spin, shouldn't save him, but, knowing our selectors, it probably will. Will struggle big league against masters like Younis if he was struggling against SA), Starc, Hazle, Faulkner (obviously bats higher if he plays, will provide as much with the ball than any other third seamer we have)/ Bird/ Sayers.
Nudge
Guest
I think he just explained that
Don Freo
Guest
John, how many Shield games do you think Mitch has played in the past 2 seasons?