Mitch Marsh on another mini tear…
Mitch Marsh’s form surges can come and go like the seasons. Well, that might be a stretch, like thinking Melbourne rarely sees four seasons in a day.
When he’s on, though, there’s not much to stop him—until, dare I say it, the dreaded Marsh injury curse rears its nasty head. As we speak, the Marsh camp is holding its breath.
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In the absence of David Warner, Marsh finds himself at the top of Australia’s batting order with the dependable Travis Head—and he is finding immediate success. With 147 runs in his two hits, Marsh’s comeback after ankle surgery could not have started any rosier.
In Australia’s first-game loss, Marsh top-scored for the visitors with a dominant 81 from 65 balls, which included five towering sixes.
Game two saw the makeshift opening pair facing a meagre total of 117—Marsh and Head made light work of the chase, reaching the target in just 11 overs. Marsh finished 66* from 36 balls and Head 51* from 30 balls; combined, they smoked 16 fours, and six sixes—a total of exactly 100 runs in boundaries, with a combined strike rate of 177.00—the home crowd left non-too pleased!
I would say Marsh is likely to relocate when Warner returns—however, he mounts a strong argument for coach Andrew McDonald to keep him in the upper reaches of the order. The opposition will find it onerous to keep him quiet early. And, if and when he gets his score moving, he also presents a real problem for spinners who bowl immediately out of the powerplay.
Much like the world’s antiquated golf courses suffering at the hands of modern-day equipment and stronger golfers, cricket grounds always seem too small when Marsh is step-hitting spinners—or slow bowlers, whichever is your preference!
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Watching Marsh bat from a technical perspective is not all that clear. You first notice and hear the power and brute force of his striking. The first-serve tennis grunt has found its way into his batting.
I asked a colleague to describe Marsh’s batting, “It seems like he has a repeatable game plan, there’s plenty of calmness in how he goes about it, and then there’s the power, which can be brutal.”
I have to agree. I likely missed the calmness, which is understandable when you watch Marsh bat live. However, there is a good deal of simplicity and correctness to his method.
Being the son of an ex-Australian player and coach, he has the batting basics well-grooved. Marsh sets up in an orthodox manner with a shoulder side-on position connected to open hips, which allows the bat swing to travel quickly down the line and into the hitting area.
His initial movement is a forward press where he will take on the short ball or extend into a step-hit front foot position. He will only push back behind the crease line when cutting the spinners. Marsh also defends predominately from the front foot position.
Mitch Marsh is from good stock. His Father, Geoff, played for and coached Australia. His Brother, Sean, who recently retired, played all three formats for Australia. His Sister, Melissa, played professional basketball, and his cousin, Brad Sheppard, played Australian Rules Football in the AFL.
Earlier in his career, Mitch Marsh endorsed Puma cricket. Which was a surprise as Geoff and Sean had played Gray Nicolls equipment their whole careers—correct me if I'm wrong please. Anyway, Mitch is now wielding a Gray Nicolls to excellent effect. The Gray cartel will be delighted.
So, everyone in Mitch Marsh's camp will pray he remains injury free before the ODI World Cup in India later this year.
Unlike golf, where redundant par fours are given a new life by moving a tee box into the next suburb, the cricket grounds in India will always be too small if Mitch Marsh gets on a batting tear!
Watch this space.
As always, thank you for being here. I must add, I do have a bloody good Geoff Marsh story that can be for another day! Enjoy the game tonight.
