It felt like it was written in the stars, or at least written in Perth’s pristine blue sky. Mitchell Marsh was destined for a hometown hundred.
Playing in his first home Test in six years, returning as a World Cup-winning hero in front of family and friends, he’s never felt so loved as an international cricketer. He said he felt emotional when he walked out to bat.
He put that emotion aside to flay Pakistan’s bowlers to all parts in the morning session. Having hammered Mark Wood’s 150kph thunderbolts to all corners of Headingley in his incredible return to Test cricket in the Ashes, Pakistan’s gentle, sub 130kph, chest-high offerings were treated with disdain. He walked down the pitch time and again to thump powerful drives and pull shots to and beyond the rope.
But having lived by the sword, he fell by it. On the first ball after lunch, he walked at Khurram Shahzad to drive him on the up and was bowled by a beauty that nipped back through the gate. There was an audible groan in the stadium as he was dismissed for 90 off 107 balls. Mitchell Marsh 2.0 was disappointed, but also proud he did it his way.
“It’s a fine line, isn’t it?” Marsh said with a smile after stumps on day two. “It’s obviously never nice to get out in the 90s and get so close but I think my method, the way I went about it today especially, was the way I want to play my cricket and my role within this team batting at No.6.”
Marsh has become the player Australia always wanted him to become in Test cricket. A dominating No.6 who can counterattack under pressure, as he did at Headingley, who can dig in when needed, as he did at Old Trafford, and who can pile on the pain by keeping the pedal down as he has done in this Test match in Perth.
Long derided as a project player who would never fulfil his talent, Marsh is fulfilling his talent and then some, having found a method that works at Test level after nine years of trying.
“I think I showed glimpses of the way I’ve played in the last probably 12 months throughout my career,” he said. “But I probably never really believed in that method and tried to play the long innings and play like Steve Smith and Davey [Warner] and Uzzy [Khawaja] and all those guys that can bat for six hours. But I just wanted to come back into this Test team and be really true to myself.
“I don’t necessarily have the technique of Smudger [Smith] and Marnus [Labuschagne] where they can defend and leave and defend and leave for hours and sort of get through those periods. But I know that when I show really good intent that I move better and I can defend good balls, but ultimately I can put pressure back onto teams. And the beauty of batting at No.6, hopefully if you bat well, you get some tired bowlers to try and counterattack and keep the game moving forward. So hopefully I can stay nice and consistent with the way I’m playing and keep contributing.”
But having finally extracted the best out of Marsh, and reaping all that comes with it, Australia’s hierarchy led by captain Pat Cummins and coach Andrew McDonald, who Marsh credited for his current success, have created a problem.
While Marsh received chants of “Bison! Bison! Bison!” in the late afternoon sun from adoring West Australian fans as he came onto bowl, and resembled Dennis Lillee with his moustache and mullet, he isn’t Lillee with the ball, and he isn’t Cameron Green either.
And therein lies the problem. Marsh is an extremely useful bowler. He bowled well in swinging conditions in England. He bowled reasonably well on day two in Perth to Imam-ul-Haq, who had trouble with his extra height and bounce even at 125kph. But Green adds another layer of potency to Australia’s attack.
Twelve months ago on the same ground against West Indies, with the game drifting along and West Indies cruising to 93 for 1, Green came on and clattered Nkrumah Bonner’s helmet with a nasty bouncer. West Indies’ No.3 retired hurt and was subbed out of the match. The game changed in an instant. Green later removed Shamarh Brooks to break a pesky stand.
Marsh can’t do what Green can with the ball in Australian conditions. And he can’t bowl as many overs as Green can given his various injury issues in recent years.
The question inevitably then becomes how do you get them both in the same side? Could Marsh open the batting when Warner retires? Marsh, quite rightly, is uncomfortable with that idea.
“How do I answer this without making the headline?” he said.
“I appreciate that there’s talk about it and eventually we’re going to need a new opener with Davey leaving but 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 batting at No.6 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.”
Marsh is feeling as comfortable and as loved as he ever has as a Test cricketer. But Green’s shadow is a big one both literally and figuratively. Even after what he’s done over the past four Tests he’s played, Marsh still doesn’t feel entrenched in the side.
“I don’t necessarily feel like I’ll ever own a spot in the team,” Marsh said. “But I feel blessed to be given another opportunity and I’m just thoroughly enjoying it. It’s the way I’m thinking about it. I’ve got a really clear role that allows me to just be myself and hopefully I can hang around for a little bit longer.”
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