Marsh confirms his status as Australia's new Watson

Only three all-rounders in ODI cricket average more than 35 with the bat and less than 35 with the ball. Two of these cricketers are Australian – Mitch Marsh and James Faulkner.

The third (based on having played at least 30 ODIs at the time of writing this article early in the New Zealand innings yesterday) is Sri Lankan skipper Angelo Mathews. All three of these players are among the most valuable ODI cricketers on the planet.

Yet Marsh has become the new Shane Watson. By that I mean that he has become the Australian cricketer who attracts more clueless criticism than any other.

Watson is one of the greatest ODI cricketers of all time. So good, in fact, that it is arguable he is the second-best batting all-rounder the format has seen, after the legendary Jacques Kallis, thanks to Watson’s batting average of 41 and bowling mark of 32 in ODIs.

Regardless of his status as one of the truly elite ODI players, Watson copped it from Australian fans, who seemed incapable of separating his ordinary Test performances from his 50-over dominance.

The minute Watson had one ugly dismissal or one poor spell in an ODI he would be attacked from all corners. “How does this spud Watson keep getting a game, he is a waste of space,” is the sort of tripe you’d read online in such scenarios.

And so it was yesterday when Mitch Marsh committed the heinous crime of moving to 14 not out from 15 balls. To this point the all-rounder had received a sequence of superb yorkers from New Zealand’s two best bowlers Trent Boult and Tim Southee.

But that mattered little to his detractors who saw an opportunity and pounced. One Roarer came on to the site and described Marsh as “very mediocre” and said he was “playing terribly”.

Similar harsh judgments were meted out by fans on Twitter, Facebook and sports websites.

No sooner had these unfair assessments been posted than Marsh began to vaporise the Kiwi attack.

After his middling start, the West Australian went berserk, hammering 62 from his next 25 balls, including seven sixes. He finished on 76 not out from 40 balls, hauling Australia to a match winning total of 5-378. Now that’s how you mute your critics.

There is little doubt Marsh has underperformed heavily in his Test career and was given a very generous run by the selectors. In ODI cricket, however, he would walk into any team in the world.

To gauge Marsh’s performances to this stage of his ODI career compare his record to very highly-rated English all-rounder Ben Stokes, who is the same age as Marsh and has played a similar number of matches.

Marsh – Batting average 38.68, bowling average 34.95
Stokes – Batting average 27.94, bowling average 37.76

To further emphasise the gulf in ODI performances between this pair, Marsh has won six man-of-the-match awards compared to one for Stokes, despite Marsh having heavier competition by virtue of playing in a better team.

Marsh is not the only current Australian player who cops more flak than he deserves. Two of his teammates yesterday – Matthew Wade and Pat Cummins – are also regular targets.

When Cummins struggled for control in the opening ODI match against New Zealand there were scores of Australian fans pointing to his effort as evidence he didn’t deserve to be in the squad. Admittedly, John Hastings was unlucky to miss out after being Australia’s leading ODI wicket taker this year.

That doesn’t, however, mean Cummins was not worthy of making his international comeback after a long injury layoff. The 23-year-old express pacemn was the equal leading wicket taker in the recent Matador Cup, with 15 wickets at 18. And in his last ODI series for Australia, in England last year, he was comfortably the best bowler from either side. He took 12 wickets at 19 in that series.

To get an idea of how impressive that was, consider the combined return of 15 wicket at 44 for England’s six specialist quicks used in that series.

Cummins sprayed the ball around in his first two spells on Sunday. But he rebounded to kill the game off with two fine pieces of bowling to dismiss Colin Munro and Matt Henry, who had dragged the Kiwis back into the game with a quickfire 50-run stand.

Yesterday he again all but ended New Zealand’s hopes of victory when he had dynamic opener Martin Guptill caught behind with a lovely leg cutter. With power hitters Ross Taylor and Corey Anderson missing from the side, Guptill needed to clout another scorching ton if the Kiwis were to chase down 378.

The man who pouched the edge from Guptill also deserves greater leeway from fans after a fine few months. For years wicketkeeper Wade underperformed in coloured clothing for Australia. But in his latest stint in the ODI line-up he has displayed noticeably neater glovework and has also been highly effective with the blade.

In his past 16 matches Wade has made 375 runs at 38, scoring at a run-a-ball. His selflessness with the blade is also to be commended, with Wade never hesitating to throw his bat when required. In this current series his 48 runs from 27 balls have helped push Australia towards huge totals.

I was one of many Australian cricket followers who disagreed with Wade’s recent ascension into the Test team.

But that should not distract from his very good form in 50-over cricket. Like Marsh and Cummins, he has earned his place in the Australian XI.