Shaun Marsh has been recalled to the Test side for a ninth time. Yet, the Gabba Test will be only his 24th match playing for Australia.
Not every omission has been due to form but the significant majority have. Not even John Farnham can boast as many comebacks.
Given Marsh’s Test record – 1476 runs at an average of 36 – when he did not have his Cricket Australia contract renewed recently it was considered there would be no further opportunities in the baggy green.
When Winston Churchill spoke famously about Russia in 1939, he could well have been speaking about Marsh: “I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma; but perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian national interest.”
Marsh certainly is a riddle, mystery and enigma.
However, the national selectors – Trevor Hohns, Greg Chappell and Darren Lehmann – feel selecting him is in the national interest.
For so long we have heard past and current players extol the virtues of Marsh as a batsman. Much of the comment surrounds his style and attractiveness when he is at his best.
Sadly, history indicates that he is not as his best regularly or for any extended period. For a man who topped the IPL run aggregate in its maiden year and averaged 43 in List A matches, he has looked a pale imitation at Test level.
His Test strike rate is a mere 44.7. The likes of Chris Rogers (50.7) and Justin Langer (54.2) were seen as doughty players but both scored considerably quicker than Marsh.
At Test level he often appears to freeze up. Numerous times he has found it hard to rotate the strike, while nudging into gaps does not appear a forte when beneath the green helmet. As a result bowlers have been able to build pressure and work to a plan in bringing about his demise.
There must be several players around the first-class traps in Australia shaking their head at Marsh’s latest reincarnation. The incumbent number six, Glenn Maxwell would be at the head of that cue.
In the three Sheffield Shield matches that have been used as a barometer for Ashes selection – although the Tim Paine recall may devalue that notion – Maxwell has scored 200 runs at 40 and Marsh 236 runs at 39.3.
Maxwell made a Test century four matches ago. To date, each of his seven Test appearances have come in Asia. He could feel aggrieved that he has been denied playing a maiden Test on home soil where his career first-class record is superior to Marsh’s. At 29, he is also five years younger than Marsh.
Callum Ferguson was called up for his Test debut last summer after many years in first-class ranks with South Australia. Heading into the Hobart Test against South Africa he had averaged 51 in his previous 17 Sheffield Shield matches during which he compiled six centuries.
At Bellerive he was run out for one and scored two in the second innings. With Australia being bowled out for 85 and 161 to lose by more than an innings, the selectors made wholesale changes for the next Test at Adelaide. Ferguson was one of the casualties, dropped after just one appearance.
This season in Shield ranks he averages 68.6 and boasts an unbeaten 182 against Victoria. His ODI record – an average of 41.4 from 30 matches – shows he has succeeded at international level when given a decent chance but, at 32, he may not be accorded the luxuries again that have regularly gone the way of Marsh.
And then there is Ed Cowan, who last season was the leading run scorer in the Sheffield Shield – 969 at 73.7 – who was told at the start of the season his age was an issue in currently being selected for New South Wales.
He has not been chosen for the Blues this summer. He is 11 months older than Marsh who has been given an international reprieve.
The selectors could have also opted for generational change.
Twenty-five-year-old Jake Lehmann has been in good form for the Redbacks with 249 Sheffield Shield runs this season at 49.8 on the back of averaging over 40 last summer. His South Australian teammate 23-year-old Jake Weatherald caned the Warriors attack in the last round of Shield matches with innings of 152 and 143 to go with a knock of 71 in the opening round.
Both Lehmann and Weatherald are far more experienced than Matt Renshaw was when he made his Test debut last season.
It was back in January 2003 that then Test skipper, Steve Waugh witnessed first-hand a young Shaun Marsh. He scored his maiden first-class century in a Sheffield Shield match at Newcastle.
Waugh was effusive in his praise, saying, “It is the best innings I have seen from a 19-year-old. He looks an outstanding talent. The quality of stroke play was superb.”
Such praise from a legend of the sport did not go unnoticed. Big things were expected from Marsh. Sadly, despite abundant natural talent and a solid work ethic, he has underperformed through his 16 years in first-class ranks.
He has scored 21 centuries in that time. That equates to 1.3 centuries a calendar year throughout his entire career. Once again the selectors have placed their faith in him.
He is likely to bat at number six as a direct swap for Maxwell with his uncapped West Australian teammate Cameron Bancroft expected to open in place of Renshaw.
Surely this will be his last chance to grab an ongoing place in Australia’s Test line-up.
For the sake of himself, the team, the selectors and the fans he has make the most of his ninth life.
The Anti-Don Freo
Guest
DF you are as deluded as Justin Langer, whom Marsh should include in his Xmas Card list...along with every ACB Board Member, every ACB employee (including Lehmann, Waugh Hohns et al) and every cricketer or ex-cricketer who has been to a Marsh Family BBQ. Justin Langer is a disgrace....his 'Renshaw is under pressure' comments as WA coach are farcical...imagine if little Justin had needed to endure such comments when he was making his mark as a Test player...and boy there were plenty of opportunities that fiercely one-eyed opposition shield coaches trying to push their own state's opening bat could have done the same to him. Alas, we don't wallow in as much state-jingoism over here in the East, and we respect the concept of merit based selections regardless of state affiliation.
The Anti-Don Freo
Guest
You sound more like Kellyanne Conway every day Don Freo...wonder if you look as ghoulish as she does.
The Anti-Don Freo
Guest
Nothing gets past you Don Freo. You are the Sebastian Gorka of WA cricket you simpleton.
The Anti-Don Freo
Guest
Defending Marsh’s selection is akin to defending Roy Moore’s behaviour with under aged girls by saying that Joseph was twice Mary’s age……its immoral and you only end up looking insane.
The Anti-Don Freo
Guest
Defending Marsh’s selection is akin to defending Roy Moore’s behaviour with under aged girls by saying that Joseph was twice Mary’s age……its immoral and you only end up looking insane.
The Anti-Don Freo
Guest
Defending Marsh's selection is akin to defending Roy Moore's behaviour with under aged girls by saying that Joseph was twice Mary's age......its immoral and you only end up looking insane.
The Bush
Roar Guru
How are two games (and only three innings at that) a large enough statistical pool for that to be a relevant comment?
Red Kev
Roar Guru
37.81. The last three years is relevant, his first class record is good, his test record at home is good, it drops if you include all his tests, as does everyone's (including probably Warner's and Smith's given the performances in India). It is not "cherry picking periods" to take the most recent few years or seasons - that is called acknowledging both a form line and performance improvement. That's why when examining Khawaja's record you should simply take since his knee reconstruction - it comes after a 6 month layoff and includes a decent time period (from July 2015) and incorporates the improvements he has made to his game since his test debut. I don't like Shaun Marsh. I think his selection is borderline incompetence from the selectors. Glenn Maxwell didn't deserve to be dropped and no-one deserves 9 recalls, no-one. I am merely defending the numbers.
Doctor Rotcod
Guest
I sit corrected.Must have been the middle of the night. There are then also only 42 fifties to consider
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
So if we cherry pick periods? Over that period as a whole he's averaged 36 at test level.
Ben Brown
Guest
Wrong, he has 22 FC centuries, Test match stats are combined with FC ones
Ben
Roar Rookie
I agree that with his numbers and there is a vacancy between 1-5 he should be picked but it is wrong to drop Maxwell who has the same average in the first 3 games, can bowl and is a excellent fielder. Shaun didn't blow the door down to get selected neither did Maxwell underperform to be dropped. Who would you want to run and save a boundary or create a run out? They should have named both and either a keeper or a batsmen would be left out.
Red Kev
Roar Guru
The last three years. Look I detest Shaun Marsh's selection as much as...actually more than...the next guy, but over the last three home summers Marsh has played 6 tests (3, then 2, then 1) and averaged 51. This is actually pretty close to his first class average over the last three years which sits in the high 40s (I haven't got the exact figure since Cricket Archive is behind a paywall and I don't have the last 6 months of data). From a purely numbers point of view, Shaun's selection is justifiable. It is not however defensible from any other selection standpoint - common sense, reliability, longevity, incumbency, or just plain having a fair-go.
James Roche
Roar Rookie
Lots of connection with Yorkshire and this Aus team. Lehmann is a living legend here and players like Starc, Handscomb, Marsh, Head, Maxwell all been over here in recent years.
Doctor Rotcod
Guest
I forgot to mention that Shaun Marsh's average of 112.5 was the highest for Yorkshire and for the County competition this past English season.It is true that it was from only 2 games and three innings, but it was nonetheless pretty impressive.
Mattyb
Guest
Great Yorhshire comments James,I spent two seasons at Barnsley when young and have very fond memories,complaining certainly wasn't excepted which I still admire twenty years later. Marsh is an excellent cricketer who's attributes are certainly attractive in a selection sense.
Mattyb
Guest
Cmon George these comments you raise came from a point of sarcasm rather than a point of cricketing knowledge which is the exact point I'm raising. Selection is a tricky issue,anyone who's been apart of a selection committee is fully aware of this,even at a local level many hours of debate are dedicated to such things. Marsh is certainly a terrific cricketer who has the ability to score big,these are the things that would have been discussed. Paine also can still be the next best keeper in the country if he comes from the same state as the incumbent which would have been discussed also,how many people suggested Bancroft was new to keeping which simply isn't true. These are things that were ignored or unknown from the armchair observer over the last month of discussion. The armchair observer I believe needs to man up rather than complain,a month of discussion that's been wrong.
TheCunningLinguistic
Guest
You forgot to end with "Doc- out" *mic drop*
Don Freo
Guest
That would be "regale me with". Not "of". You could avail yourself 'of'... If you want thise numbers, go to Cricinfo. You are the one who has an interest back then.
Doctor Rotcod
Guest
It's good to see that the majority of the uninformed have packed up their PCs for the night. When you get four crap decisions in four Tests,that doesn't help your record When you score 148 at Centurion and a pair in the next test sees you dropped or 99 at the MCG isn't enough for you to keep your place, it's hardly an argument for blind bias on the part of the selectors. George,I get. Ad hominem arguments are about your level.I recommend some light reading of Wittgenstein . Basil, you offer one word.Thanks for your clarity Hughester and John E. Do you know anything about Shaun Marsh,other than regurgitate? If you want a player on a finer edge than Maxwell,he's your man Roll on Thursday! By the way,Marsh has 155 Test and FC matches combined - with 26 centuries and 49 fifties and 143 catches and 9974 runs.This is a considerable body of work and suggests that injuries have blighted his career far more than his last name might have enhanced it Maxwell ,despite the comparative lack of injury, in his 61 FC and Test matches,has 3570 runs and an average of 26 in Tests and 47 catches overall