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As Shaun Marsh strolled off Adelaide Oval on Monday after a classy 163 not out for Western Australia, certain cricket fans were unconvinced.
Unimpressed by the innings, or at least its timing, they took to social media armed with a series of lines well-worn. Marsh, according to these viewers, would get ‘yet another go’ this summer due only to his surname, and as soon as things became tough, he’d crumble.
Too late, endless chances, family name, susceptible to the swinging ball – jibes were as free-flowing as the subject’s cover drive. They’d point to the numbers, recent failures and poor periods. Some of the arguments were well-crafted and thoughtful. Most, however, reverted to clichés, because that’s what cricket fans do.
Cricket is a game of grey upon greys, but to some fans it’s binary – and Shaun (and his brother Mitch) is on the wrong side. Pulling away from the history and narrative surrounding the player, however, and it simply doesn’t hold to say that Shaun Marsh isn’t in the top six batsmen in Australia at the present time.
Despite the noise, I’m yet to hear a substantive argument warranting his emission for the impending series against India.
This is not to suggest he should be exempt from criticism – far from it. What he should be subject to, however, is reasoned debate, diverting from overtly subjective slants and nepotism jibes. A debate that considers whether his skill, temperament and attitude is in the nation’s best six.
At the moment, without considerable opposition in Shield ranks, it is.
One man who experienced a barrage of reductionist, lazy ribbing throughout his career (thereby underselling it) is one of Australia’s better players of the last decade, Shane Watson.
Sure, Watto had his fair share of DRS howlers and copped it from the viewing public. It was funny at first, then became over-used, and eventually just unimaginative and boring. In Watson’s case, the revert to cliché undersold (and continues to do so) what was a test career of repute, and an ODI career of high regard.
For the players, breaking free from the pigeon-holing seems exceedingly difficult. One man who did just that recently was Usman Khawaja. The same batsman who ‘can’t play spin’, ‘can’t play in Asia’ and ‘is too lazy’ scored one of the best centuries in recent memory, pushing through stifling heat to conjure a match-saving 141 off 302 balls.
(AAP Image/David Moir)
Now? Well, Uzzie’s our best batsmen by the length of the Flemington straight – our only chance against India, or so the collective thought goes.
Khawaja denounced this earlier in the year. “When I’m scoring runs I’m elegant, when I’m not I’m lazy,” Khawaja said. “I can’t seem to win when things aren’t going well. It’s not like I’m going out there and not trying. But it’s something I’ve dealt with my whole career.”
Again, Marsh is not exempt from criticism. His record overseas is, to date, not up to scratch.
His run of form in the UAE was poor, and he looked decidedly unsure at the crease. But Justin Langer has said on record that ‘runs are currency’. And since returning from Abu Dhabi, Marsh has plundered 80, 98, 22, 106, 21 and 163*. The numbers speak for themselves.
The irony that comes with much of the Marsh-hate is the inability to name genuine alternatives for the series against India. When it comes, I’d love to hear it.
