Marsh’s eyes wide open to shock batting move
Mitchell Marsh has been thrust back into serious consideration to follow the lead of his dad and brother and open the batting for Australia.
There is a growing expectation that Test selectors may backflip on Steve Smith as Usman Khawaja’s opening partner, but the most intriguing development is that even if that happens – the new man in the hot seat is unlikely to be a specialist opener drafted in from outside the XI.
“We feel as though that the team that finished in New Zealand, should they get a clean run at it and be well prepared, then they would be the bestplaced players to fill that,” Australian coach Andrew McDonald told Gerard Whateley on SEN.
This means that if Smith is moved back to his best pos
ition in the middle-order, selectors will be shuffling the deck chairs within the existing top six to find the new opener.
One candidate being mentioned around the traps is Allan Border medallist Marsh.
Promoting the all-rounder to the top of the order would be a major shock on multiple counts, not least because the man himself made it clear last summer he had no interest in replacing David Warner.
“How do I answer this without making a headline?” Marsh pondered at the time.
“For me … I’ve worked really hard to get back in this side and for me to look forward to having a role as an opener just doesn’t make sense to me.
“I love being at number six and in my last four Test matches I’ve really found my way and I guess who I am as a Test cricketer and I’m loving it, so I’m reluctant to change
that.” So on that basis, it sure would be a headline if Marsh was now asked to open against India, 12 months later.
But in the context of Australia being set on picking their best six batsmen and working out the order from there, perhaps Marsh is a candidate worth serious consideration.
If the starting point is that Travis Head, Cameron Green and Marnus Labuschagne are the future of this ageing Australian batting line-up, and they’re better off being left where they are – then selectors may have the least to lose by taking a Bazball-style punt and asking ultimate team man Marsh to move up.
Having two all-rounders in the top six is a luxury for Australia, but it’s one they may not be able to afford for a prolonged period if they can’t find a solution for replacing Warner at the top of the order.
With Green the man Australia must invest in longterm, Marsh, at 32 years of age and with a history of fitness issues, may be the best placed batsman to make the sacrifice of filling the void as opener and see if he can continue his career renaissance there.
Selectors could roll the dice on Marsh knowing that excellent judges, led by Greg Chappell, were last year calling for him to be Warner’s replacement in the first place.
“Marsh is Warner’s compelling replacement,” Chappell wrote in a column for Nine newspapers.
“His explosive batting style, combined with an ability to handle pace, positions him as the best candidate.
“Marsh’s proficiency in hitting down the ground and executing powerful hooks and cuts is ideal to counterattack fast bowling.”
One of Australia’s great modern-day openers, Simon Katich, has gone the other way to former teammates Justin Langer and Matthew Hayden and says selectors should stick to their guns on Smith.
“It’s still very early in Smith’s opening career,” Katich said on Peter Lalor and Gideon Haigh’s Cricket Et Al podcast.
“He’s only done it in NZ and a couple of Tests against the West Indies.
“It can take time to adjust. Like any challenge, once you do it more often and you get used to it, you come up with a game plan as to how you’re going to go about it and I think he’s probably still working through that.
“I’d back him to be able to overcome that challenge and I think he’s experienced enough and good enough to problemsolve, as we all know.”