Mitch Marsh's incredible act for young cricket fan amid debate over David Warner snub

Debate has erupted amongst cricket fans after Mitch Marsh was awarded player of the match honours over David Warner after Australia's crushing win against Pakistan in the first Test. The Aussies skittled the tourists for just 89 on Sunday to complete an emphatic victory by 360 runs in Perth.

In the aftermath, hometown hero Marsh was named player of the match after making 90 and 63 not out, as well as snaring the prized scalp of Babar Azam in the first innings. However many felt that Warner was hard done by after his masterful knock of 164 in the first dig didn't get him the honour.

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And maybe Marsh felt he didn't deserve it either after he was seen gifting his medal to a young fan in the crowd after receiving it. The honour came as the cherry on the cake for Marsh, who made a brilliant return to Test cricket in his home state.

The all-rounder hadn't played a Test in Perth since 2017, but has cemented his place in the side for the foreseeable future after unseating Cameron Green during the Ashes earlier this year. " It's been amazing," the West Australian said during the post-match presentation.

"Obviously my first Test at Perth Stadium and the first Test match at Perth in six years so it's nice to be back. Thank you everyone for getting around me it's been an incredible experience."

Marsh said the pitch was "tricky" to bat on despite the fact he made it look easy. "It's an interesting one, I think when you go out and have a biggish lead it takes the pressure off a little bit but the wicket felt really tricky and we just wanted to get above 400, then we can sort of push the button a bit," he said. "So even today we felt it was going to be pretty tricky and we knew our bowlers today were going to be a handful and that proved to be the case and they bowled outstanding."

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But not everyone was happy about Marsh beating Warner to player of the match honours. Many pointed out that Warner's knock was the most significant of the match and gave others like Marsh the freedom to let loose later in the game.

One fan wrote on social media: "Personally despise Warner but the runs he got and when he got them made it so much easier for Marsh to come out and play with such freedom." Another commented: "In what world should Marsh get MOTM? What a joke. Absolutely embarrassing. Game was won off Warner's bat with that 160. Pathetic."

Nathan Lyon joins 500-wicket club as Aussies win first Test

On Sunday, Nathan Lyon became just the eighth player in Test cricket history to take 500 wickets, finishing with match figures of 5-80 in a brilliant return to the Test arena. Mitchell Starc (3-31), Josh Hazlewood (3-13) and Lyon (2-14) shared the spoils in the second innings as Pakistan were bowled out in just 30.2 overs.

Lyon was quick to shift the praise to Marsh and Usman Khawaja (who made 90), who combined for a 116-run partnership in tricky conditions that allowed Pat Cummins to declare in the second innings. "I don't think we've talked enough about the partnership between Usman and Mitch Marsh on a challenging wicket against quality bowlers," Lyon said. "To have a 100-run partnership and give Pat the chance to declare and put us in a really strong position in the game ... hats off to them."

Cummins had no issues with the unpredictable surface despite Khawaja, Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne all copping nasty blows. "We play on a lot of wickets where it's really flat and you fill your boots as a batter," the captain said.

"The second innings here for both teams was more difficult than first. But as you saw, there was plenty of runs there if you got out there. It's probably a bit more (activity) than you ideally want on a day four wicket, but there was a lot of cricket before that to set up the game."

with AAP

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