Mitchell Marsh's epic redemption story continues after World Cup captaincy announcement

Mitch Marsh has continued his beautiful redemption story in the eyes of the Australian public having been named as the captain of the Aussie T20 World Cup team. Marsh has enjoyed a resurgence late in his career having settled into both the Test and white-ball sides after he found himself on the outer a few years ago.

Marsh unfortunately joked at one stage "most of Australia hated him". However, the allrounder has thoroughly won over the Australian audience in the last two years. And it started having returned to the Test team during the Ashes where he scored a century in his first match back.

Marsh is now an overwhelming fan favourite around the country. Over the last two years he has helped Australia win the T20 and ODI World Cups, as well as retaining the Ashes in the most recent series in England. He then was rewarded for his hard work after winning the Allan Border Medal at the beginning of 2024. And speaking at the awards ceremony, Marsh choked up when he made the sad admission he was always hoping for one more crack in the Aussie team to show his mettle.

"I often spoke to my wife about...," Marsh said after winning the award. "That I just wanted to get one more crack at it, and it's been amazing. She gave me the perspective on life that I needed. Grets is an amazing human, I said in my wedding vows eight months ago she gave me the perspective on life I needed and our life is a lot of fun. If I get a duck, or get a hundred, she’s always the same."

Marsh choked up again as he thanked Pat Cummins and Ron McDonald for believing in him. “To Ronny (McDonald) and Patty (Cummins), you believed in me and I can’t thank you enough," he said. “I’m a bit fat at times and I love a beer but you see the best in me always. You’ve changed my life."

Mitchell Marsh to lead Australia into T20 World Cup

And the latest captaincy nod - over One Day and Test captain Pat Cummins - has been another huge moment for the 32-year-old. And reporter Bharat Sundaresan noted Marsh's resurgence has been inspirational after being ridiculed in the early stages of his career.

"While there will be a lot of debate...Mitch Marsh being named captain is one of the great feel-good stories in Australian sport. From being on the outer only a few years ago to now leading his country in a T20 World Cup. Lovely," he wrote.

In 2018, Marsh was booed when he strode out to the crease after a lean run of form. In 2023, Marsh was awarded an ovation for his performance. And after the MCG Test, Marsh said he wasn't looking to 'win over' his previous detractors, but admitted it was nice the fans were on board.

"I shut that door a long time ago for me personally," he said. "But I guess the story about coming back (to the MCG) is hopefully a nice one." And there would be no bigger thrill for the new captain to lift the trophy in the US and West Indies later this year.

Steve Smith misses out on World Cup selection

The biggest two names omitted from the squad included young sensation Jake Fraser-McGurk and Steve Smith. A number of other big names missed out on the squad with bowling sensation Spencer Johnson and batter Matt Short unfortunate not to be included. Bailey admitted it was a tough decision to leave them out.

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“Steve Smith, Matt Short, Jason Behrendorff, Aaron Hardie, Spencer Johnson and Xavier Bartlett were all part of long conversations, along with several others, including Jake Fraser-McGurk, who is yet to play T20 International cricket but continues to impress and is developing rapidly,” George Bailey said after the announcement.