Australian selectors sometimes have to make difficult decisions to exclude players from the Test squad.
This is not one of them.
Mitch Marsh is poor with both bat and ball and will have to count his lucky stars to feature for Australia in the fifth Test in Sydney.
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Marsh’s Test career, which won the Allan Border Medal last year, will come to an end in just one day.
The Australian all-rounder endured a horror series against India by continuing his low batting performance in the second innings of Day 4 at the MCG.
Marsh scored just 73 runs in seven innings at an average of 10.42, with his highest score of 47 in the first Test in Perth.
His remaining scores at the crease returned 6, 9, 5, 2, 4 and a duck. His humble display with Willow is amplified by his efforts to make an impact with the ball in his hands.
After bowling 17 overs and claiming 3/77 in the opening Test, Marsh bowled only 13 overs without picking up a wicket.
This is why calls from the Australian selectors to drop him after his latest crisis have now become deafening and they cannot be ignored.
Former Australian cricketer Mark Waugh said it was time for selectors to look elsewhere. And that’s Beau Webster’s direction.
“There will be (discussions) depending on the team’s conditions and balance. Beau Webster is in the team and (Marsh) hasn’t scored in this game,” Waugh said on Fox Cricket.
“In theory, having Alex Carey at six and Beau Webster at seven could be an option.
“(Webster) is a batting all-rounder but he will bowl more overs and he may see offspin and seams.
“That will be a discussion point depending on what happens here over the next two days, for example regarding the fitness of Mitchell Starc.”
SEN’s Peter Lalor said: “I think there needs to be a change there. If I wore a selector’s hat I wouldn’t pick Mitch Marsh from Sydney.”
Mark Gottlieb wrote in X: “Mitch Marsh cannot be selected for the SCG Test. surely. Bloke is horribly out of shape. “He offers nothing with the ball and nothing with the bat.”
Despite the majority of cricket fans calling for Marsh to be excluded from the national team, former Australia coach Justin Langer says he will not shake things up.
Langer is keen to see Marsh return to his free-flowing style of cricket, which he believes will see him back to his best.
“Yes, I will pick him in Sydney,” Langer told Channel 7.
“When I received my AB medal last year, he said, ‘I’m a bit fat and I like beer.’ So I want to see him playing cricket with a smile on his face.
“I don’t like cutting and changing the Test team. In this case, there will be another change to the testing team. I don’t think it’s positive content. I think he should play in Sydney.
“If I were Pat Cummins, his teammate and captain, if I was the manager or selector, I would say, ‘Mitch, it’s a big game for us.’ Go in with your colleagues. Play with a carefree attitude and show us what you’ve got.”
Marsh will get one more chance to prove his worth to the team when India’s second innings gets underway at the MCG.
The fifth Test of the Border-Gavaskar series is scheduled to be played in Sydney on January 3.
