Mitch Marsh answers Pat Cummins' call as George Bailey drops hint about Cameron Green replacement
Marsh says he is prepared to take on an increased bowling load this summer.
Despite playing purely as a batsman in WA's first Sheffield Shield game, Mitch Marsh will be key to Australia's Test bowling plans this summer. With Cameron Green sidelined, Australian captain Pat Cummins has called on Marsh to take on an increased bowling workload this summer. And the 32-year-old says he is up for the challenge and increased workload.
Green will miss the entire five-Test series against India and the Test tour of Sri Lanka after deciding to have radical surgery to fix stress fractures in his back. And with selectors set to replace Green with a specialist opener to allow Steve Smith to drop back to No.4, Marsh will shoulder a bigger bowling load this summer.
The 32-year-old will bowl some overs in the upcoming Shield clash with Tasmania at the WACA, starting Sunday to prepare him for the Australian summer. Marsh averaged just five overs a game last summer and has only bowled more than 10 overs in a Test match once since his return in last year's Ashes. He has also only bowled 21 overs in 40 white-ball matches during that time while spending time playing as a batter due to fitness concerns.
And while Nathan Lyon can work through long spells, the lack of a fifth bowler is expected to place extra pressure on the team's aging pace attack, and some of the burden is set to fall on Marsh. But the allrounder isn't fazed declaring on Wednesday: "I love bowling."
"I see the allrounder role being really important, especially for when our bowlers need a bit of a break. I think if you look back at the last few seasons, our all-rounders have bowled maybe 10 to 13 overs a game, which is not really a lot, but those 10 to 13 overs can be really important.
"So for me, it's about preparing to bowl as much as I can, as much as Patty (Cummins) needs me to. Physically I'm feeling really good. I've been really well looked after.
"Once you're in the field of battle, you bowl as much as the captain needs you to bowl, and I'll be prepared for that. I won't bowl too much for WA, but it's all part of the building process of getting ready for the first Test."
George Bailey rules out allrounder replacing Cameron Green
Australia's chief selector George Bailey has ruled out going with an allrounder to replace the injured Green, insisting having Green and Marsh's bowling capabilities in the side is simply a bonus and not a necessity. Bailey indicated last week that it could be difficult for Starc, Hazlewood and Cummins to play five Test against India, suggesting the trio's marathon effort to feature in all red-ball matches last summer was an "outlier".
But Bailey won't be bringing in an allrounder to help carry the load, instead stating he will rotate the bowling stocks as necessarty and bring in a new batting partner for Usman Khawaja. "I think it's a luxury (to have an allrounder in the team)," Bailey said.
"Even looking at the three quicks we generally play in Test cricket (Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood), they've played a lot of Test cricket together where they haven't had an allrounder. I think it certainly depends on the personnel that are available.
"The role that Cam (Green) and Mitch (Marsh) have played is they've been able to hold down a spot purely on the back of their batting and that's still fundamentally what's most important in that top six. (But) we certainly have been and will continue, preparing for Mitch Marsh to be able to bowl some overs as well. That's been part of his management and build for the last couple of months."
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Bailey's comments suggest allrounders such as Aaron Hardie, Michael Neser and Beau Webster will be overlooked, with an opener the main priority. The Aussies have been waiting for a batsman to put their hand up to take Warner's place and the list of likely candidates seemingly sits at three.
Marcus Harris, Cameron Bancroft and Sam Konstas loom as the most likely options to open the batting in the first Test against India, starting on November 22. And they will all have an opportunity to stake their claim in the Sheffield Shield in the coming weeks before having the chance to impress for Australia A.
