Australia

A double-Marsh five and six does not impress

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< 1 minute read

It wasn’t so long ago that Australia’s batting was pretty fragile. Since then, David Warner and Steve Smith have joined Michael Clarke as regular run-scorers, providing more than mere gaffer tape solidity. However, while India’s 408 doesn’t look too imposing, nor does Australia’s new-look line-up.

Some players seem underrated by the sides they represent. Others… well, you just feel like you’re missing something. The Marshes are a case in point.

Shaun Marsh makes good hundreds interspersed with a hell of a lot of ducks. He’s played for long enough now that you’d think people would have a fair idea what they will get from him, but the Australian selectors seem far more concerned with what they might get from him.

His brother, Mitch, is looked upon in a similar way. People seem impressed by his bowling, despite the fact that he has only just taken his first Test wicket in his fourth Test, while he finds himself batting at six despite a first-class average of 29.63. By way of contrast, India’s number six averages 58.68 in first-class cricket and recently became the first man to hit two ODI double hundreds – yet still approximately half of his team’s supporters think he shouldn’t be playing.

The middle order Marshes – they sound more challenging than they perhaps are.

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6 comments

  1. Mitchell Marsh is simply the product of name conflation.

    Lots of Aussie cricketers are named Mitch.
    Lots of Aussie cricketers are named Marsh.
    There should be an Aussie cricketer named Mitch Marsh.

    It’s the Aussie version of coming from the right sort of family.

    On a similar note, for a long time I thought that Shane Watson got into the side because his name sounded right.

    1. Dan Liebke highlighted this point excellently.

    2. Luv it.

      Would look even better in the form of a Venn diagram and/or a sequence of equations with U’s and upturned U’s aplenty.

      I feel uplifted.

    3. His name firms up the link between his family and the rest of the modern-day team. Mitch binding in the Marshes, as one might say.

    4. That’s “Mitch”, BINDING IN the Marshes. See? Mitch, binding in the “Marshes”. Get it now? It’s the best joke relating a current Australian team selection to a 1950s radio programme that has been made ALL DAY.

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