Shaun Marsh – CaughtOutCricket

Veteran batsman’s runscoring feats have become boom or bust throughout his seven-year Test career.

Not since Shane Watson last pulled on the green and gold jersey in March 2016 has there been a more divided figure in Australian cricket than Shaun Marsh.

Poor form and injuries have blighted Marsh’s career to the extent that he and younger brother Mitchell are now seen as figures of fun to certain sections of the Australian public for their perceived wealth of opportunities and lack of runs.

It’s been almost seven years since Marsh sr. first played a home Test series against India. Across six innings in that 2011/12 summer he scored just 17 runs and averaged 2.42. Eleven of those runs were scored in one knock.

For a number 11 those would be disappointing returns. But for a top order batsman they were outright disastrous and he subsequently paid the price by being axed from the side for more than two years.

Unfortunately for Marsh the aforementioned series wasn’t an anomaly either. His seven-year and 34-Test career has habitually fluctuated from one extreme to another. The big hundreds are regularly followed by a string of low scores and vice versa.

Since debuting in the hills of Kandy as a 28-year-old with nearly ten years of first-class experienced behind him, 40.98% of his Test innings have ended with single figure scores. That’s 25 out of 61 innings that have concluded before they’ve reached ten.

To reiterate the all or nothing nature of his batting, when he does go past ten his average balloons close to 60 – almost 25 runs more than his Test career average of 35.28. He has also logged ten ducks in 61 innings which is just one less than Allan Border recorded across his 265 innings in the Baggy Green.

While it’s inevitable that all top order batsmen – Marsh has batted all across the top six – will occasionally be dismissed cheaply throughout their careers, to fail to make double figures in over 40% of your innings shows a batsman who struggles to tough it out when confidence is down.

As a result, he’s been dropped from the side on numerous occasions, but has still managed to outlive the coaching spans of Tim Nielsen, Mickey Arthur and Darren Lehmann. Now he’s reunited with his former Western Australia coach and mentor Justin Langer who took over the top job in May.

The pair have worked together in Perth since late 2012 with Langer, himself a former international lefthander, often helping Marsh iron out technical deficiencies in his game. Having a close ally at the helm will no doubt help to prolong his future in the side.

At his best he’s got the dreamy cover drives, the powerful cut shots and the all-round elegant stroke play to revival the finest. But, and there’s certainly always a but with Shaun Marsh, to the contrary he can also be found scratching around like an old hen uncertain of where his next run will come from.

In a modern era of increasing technology and data analysis, it’s easy to spot a batsman’s weakness. And it’s certainly no secret that Marsh has got a tendency to drive away from his body early in his innings. For any international bowler worth their salt it’s not rocket science – target him early on with a fourth or fifth stump line and you’re in with a decent shout of having him caught behind.

If it wasn’t for his obvious talent and the relative lack of other Test-quality options, then his international career could well have turned out differently. His ability to score big and very timely match-winning hundreds has certainly given him a greater margin for error with the selectors.

Shaun Marsh, Michael Hussey — Shaun Marsh celebrates a hundred on his Test debut with teammate Mike Hussey. (Photo Credit: Associated Press.)

But despite the large barren spells of drought, there have been the good times too. The times of feast (or in batting terms, “The Daddy Hundreds”). Its certain his career at the highest level wouldn’t have survived without them. And they have been vast and vital. All six of his Test hundreds have gone past the 125-run mark, while five of them have contributed to Australian victories.

Batting in Ricky Ponting’s recently vacated number three spot, his 141 on debut in Pallekele was a statement making knock coming just months after Ponting had handed over the captaincy in the aftermath of a home Ashes defeat. He later returned to Sri Lanka in 2016 to make a face-saving 130 alongside Steve Smith in Colombo in a series Australia would eventually lose 3-0.

After being sidelined for much of 2012 and 2013 due to his diminishing returns, he returned with a bang in early 2014 scoring a masterful 148 against South Africa in Centurion. He repelled an attack that featured Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel for 428 minutes to put Australia one-nil up in a series they would later win 2-1.

But in typical Marsh fashion he recorded a pair in his next match in Port Elizabeth and was dropped for the final match of the series having lasted just three balls in two innings.

The hundreds were sporadic thereafter – as they often were. Although a huge 182 was compiled against a weak West Indian attack at Hobart in late 2015 when Marsh put on 449 for the fourth wicket with Adam Voges.

He was immediately dropped for the fit-again Usman Khawaja for the next Test as other more reliable options were sort. Thereafter he returned only for one-off Tests against Sri Lanka and South Africa in 2016 before cementing his place again in India with fighting knocks of 66 in Bengaluru and a final day match-saving 197-ball 53 in Ranchi.

His solid tour of India was followed up by an excellent home Ashes campaign where he finally showed some much-needed consistency by following up a significant 126 not out in Adelaide with 156 in Sydney to finish the series behind only Smith in the batting charts with 445 runs at 74.16.

It seemed like a career-defining moment for Marsh who finally appeared to take ownership of the number five position. However, his form has since nosedived with series in South Africa and the UAE producing just 161 runs across 12 innings at 13.41. In the two Tests against Pakistan in October he averaged only 3.50 with a top score of seven.

Having failed to reach fifty since his hundred at the SCG his Test future appeared on the periphery. But strong support from Langer and an upturn in ODI and Sheffield Shield form has given him a life raft ahead of a huge home series with India.

Match-winning scores of 80 and 98 against Tasmania in late October were followed by 22 and 106 for the Australian ODI side against South Africa and an unbeaten 163 to help Western Australia chase down 313 against South Australia in Adelaide before he rounded out his preparation for the Border-Gavaskar Test series with 81 and 0 against New South Wales at the new Perth Stadium.

With key batsmen and former leaders Smith and David Warner still serving out their one-year ball-tampering suspensions, its left to Marsh and fellow lefthander Khawaja to step up and replace the huge void with leadership and runs.

When Marsh steps out to bat against India at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday morning he will be hoping to replicate the first-innings 126 he made against England there last summer and not the 3 and 0 he scored against India in January 2012.

How much longer the 35-year-old can hold onto his fragile Test career remains to be seen.

Despite a 2-1 series defeat, Steven Smith and his men can return home to Australia with their heads held high after a topsy-turvy four Test matches in India

What a series! It was tight, tense and at times fractious, but in the end the hosts India prevailed with, what eventually turned out to be, a comfortable eight-wicket victory in Dharamsala.

That Australia even made it to Dharamsala with the series still in the balance at 1-1 speaks volumes of the improvements they have made to playing cricket in the subcontinent. Eventually, though, old habits sneaked in during the final Test – most noticeably a third-day batting collapse that all but handed the series to India.

Captain Steven Smith will look back on the series with an equal amount of pride and regret. His team went into the four Test series as huge underdogs – having lost their previous nine Tests on Asian soil – so to compete strongly until the penultimate day of the series will have pleased him immensely. On the other hand, his side will be disappointed that they eventually lost the series after going one-nil up in Pune. Moreover, they will regret not having seized control of the key opportunities that came their way in the prevailing three matches.

For India, it meant a successful end to a fine season of home cricket. After losing in Pune – their first defeat at home in 20 Tests – they showed tremendous character and skill to fight their way back into the series after such a packed international schedule that included 13 Tests in six months.

Even so, Australia have made major progress in the way they have approached the challenges of facing quality opposition in alien conditions. Taking away the two second innings collapses that ultimately cost them the series (112 in Bengaluru and 137 in Dharamsala) the batting has held reasonably firm. The most noticeable aspect was the willingness to grind out an innings and bat time rather than just playing the attack at all costs “Australian way of cricket” that has come unstuck on previous visits to India.

India Australia Cricket — Nathan Lyon made huge improvements to his bowling on the subcontinent. (Photo Credit: Associated Press)

Smith has of course led the way, scoring three centuries on his way to 499 runs at 71.28. Such is Smith’s genius that he’s now averaging 61.05 after 54 Test matches. When you consider that he’s yet to turn 28-years-old, you’d have to imagine he’ll at least double the 5000+ Tests runs and 20 centuries he already has in the locker.

Other batters have enhanced their reputations too. Matt Renshaw scored important first-innings fifties in both the first two Tests before gradually fading as the series wore on. In doing so he became the first Australian to score 500+ Test runs before the age of 21. Often looking cool and composed at the crease, it’s easy to forget that he was playing his maiden series anywhere outside of Australia. The whole experience, on and off the field, is certain to hold him in good stead going into a high-pressured Ashes campaign later in the year.

The enigma that is Glenn Maxwell was finally unlocked as a Test batsman too. Brought into the side to replace the injured, and repeatedly misfiring Mitchell Marsh, Maxwell played two mature knocks (104 in Ranchi and 45 in Dharamsala) to stake a claim for a regular batting spot at number six. Despite a breakout series with the bat, Maxwell’s bowling remained underused and perhaps under trusted by Smith, (he bowled just 6 overs in three innings) and with Darren Lehmann largely preferring a fast-bowling allrounder at number six it remains to be seen if he’ll keep his place for future home assignments.

If the likes of Smith, Renshaw and Maxwell can walk away from India pleased with their batting efforts, the same can’t be said for David Warner. The combative left-hander struggled to stamp his authority on the series. Despite making starts in many his innings, he made just one fifty plus score in eight innings. Warner’s struggles against the spin of R Ashwin continued a longer theme for him away from the home comforts of Australia.

Without an away Test hundred in nearly three years, his away average now stands at just 36.61 compared to his overall average of 47.42. In India that average drops even further to 24.25. Although there’s no thoughts of the vice-captain losing his place in the side, a lack of overseas success is bound to tarnish his reputation as a great batsman.

After a 1946 day absence, Pat Cummins made an impressive return to Test cricket. (Photo Credit: Associated Press)

The middle order duo of Shaun Marsh and Peter Handscomb had their moments with the bat, but both will feel that they left runs out on the field. Putting aside their match saving 124-run partnership – that spanned 62 final-day overs – in Ranchi, the pair struggled to put together the numbers required to earn their side success on the subcontinent.

Besides his unbeaten 72 in Ranchi, Handscomb’s seven other scores ranged between 8 and 24. Marsh on the other hand, is a notoriously bad starter at the crease and despite looking comfortable against the spin bowlers when set (he made 66 in Bengaluru and 53 in Ranchi) he also recorded five single figure scores in his eight innings. With Usman Khawaja set to come back into the side, it’s quite conceivable that Marsh, at 33, could well have played his final match for Australia.

Wicketkeeper Matthew Wade belatedly found form in Dharamsala with unbeaten innings of 57 and 25, but it was a case of perhaps to-little-to-late for Australia as they needed more runs from their number seven. His form with the gloves was tidy enough throughout with the only real blemish being a dropped catch off the batting of Wriddhiman Saha – who went onto record a crucial century in Ranchi.

Another gain from the series was the general form and consistency of spinners Nathan Lyon and Steve O’Keefe. Lyon entered the series with plenty of question marks (and a hefty bowling average of 42.57) during his previous bowling in Asian conditions, however, he managed to snare 19 wickets at 25.26 across the series. Unfortunately for Lyon, both his 8-50 in Bengaluru and 5-92 in Dharamsala came in losing causes. O’Keefe, meanwhile, had a greater impact on Australia’s first Test victory on Indian soil in 13 years.

He benefitted from an, at times unplayable, Pune wicket to capture 6-35 in both innings and earn himself a place in Australian cricketing history. Although his effectiveness faded as the series worn on – he claimed just seven wickets thereafter – he still managed to dry up an end as the quicks bowled in short spells. He eventually matched Lyon’s haul of 19 wickets at a slightly better average of 23.26.

When Mitchell Starc pulled up lame upon the conclusion of the second Test, the return of Pat Cummins was one of the defining stories of the series. It had been a staggering 1946 days between Cummins’ Test debut in 2011 and his second Test in Ranchi. Regardless of the impact he had in his two Tests in India, the fact that he backed up again in Dharamsala after bowling 39 overs in Ranchi was heartening for all to see.

And he certainly made an impression. In many ways, he was the perfect replacement for Starc. Bowling in short sharp spells, his pace reaped more from the slow pitches than anyone else from either side and he regularly clocked over 145kph. Although it’s important to remember that it’s still the beginning of his comeback to the longer format, the prospect of him one day bowling in tandem with Starc, Josh Hazlewood and James Pattinson is a tantalising one.

Going forward, Australia must learn from both the positives and negatives from their latest Asian trip – for there was progress, even though it was ultimately not enough.

Tag: Shaun Marsh

Shaun Marsh’s career of feast or famine

Progress but ultimately not enough