Mitchell Marsh: “I’m feeling really confident in my game at the moment so it’s a great feeling”
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Australia have called up all-rounder Mitchell Marsh ahead of the third Ashes Test, which gets underway on December 14 in Perth.
Marsh, who will replace pace bowler Chadd Sayers, has not played Test cricket since Marsh, but has impressed with Western Australia in the Sheffield Shield, where he is the seventh-highest run-scorer with 402 runs, which includes a century and a fifty, at an average of 44.66.
Sayers was included in Australia’s squad for the first two Tests, but since he was not included in the playing XI in either match, he has been let go from the squad in favour of Marsh.
Since Marsh is an all-rounder who bowls pace, he was preferred over all-rounder Glenn Maxwell, who bowls off-spin.
Maxwell has also been turning heads in the Sheffield Shield as he currently sits at the summit of the batting chart with 590 runs to his name, which includes a career-best 278, at an average of 73.75.
“I’m feeling really confident in my game at the moment so it’s a great feeling,” Marsh said. “As an all-rounder in the Australian team with our attack I’m obviously not going to be bowling 30 to 40 overs a game.
“But I’ve worked hard over the last eight months to get my body into a position where I’m now playing again as an all-rounder so that’s really exciting.”
Western Australia coach Justin Langer was pleased for Marsh and feels that he can take some of the workload from the pace trio of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins if he gets selected in the playing XI.
“Australia are 2-0 up in the Ashes, I never like to change a winning team,” Langer said. “That said, if there’s any concerns about any of the bowlers and if the wicket looks anything like what we’ve played on in the last two Shield games here then you’d definitely like to have another fast-bowling option I think. Because spin-bowling doesn’t usually have the impact here as it does other grounds. So maybe Nathan Lyon won’t have the same impact he’s had in Adelaide and Brisbane.
“His presence at the crease, like his brother, was sublime in the one-day tournament. He’s come out, got 400 or so runs in Shield cricket so far. He’s got 190 here at the WACA where the Test match is, so he’s going from strengths to strengths.”
“It’s a no-brainer really. Whether he forces himself into the team, time will tell. From an absolutely biased Western Australia cricket coach point of view, I hope he does but it means someone will have to miss out – and probably nobody deserves to miss out when they’re 2-0 up time will tell, but he’s certainly done everything he can to knock hard to get into the team.”