‘Hit your first ball for six’: How Cummins helped turn around Marsh’s career after fan hate

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Mitch Marsh knew he had a licence to thrill after a talk with captain and great mate Pat Cummins before his Test recall at Headingley this year.

“He said to me, ‘If you want to go and hit your first ball for six, and you’re feeling it, I want you to do it’,” Marsh told this masthead ahead of the first Test in Perth against Pakistan, beginning on Thursday.

“Ultimately, I’m probably not going to do that. Although I’d love to be able to say after I finished playing that I hit my first ball for six in a Test match. But I guess that’s the reason I’m picked. I do play reasonably attacking these days, and Patty sees that as a strength of mine. He just wants me to go out there and enjoy it and have fun.

“He’s a very close mate of mine, but he’s also a great leader within that group. And when you’re leader’s instilling that sort of confidence in you, it allows you to go out there and be a bit freer and enjoy being part of a team and contributing to wins.”

Marsh might not have hit his first Test ball in almost four years over the fence, but he stroked his fourth ball to the cover boundary and smote his 12th high and wide over mid-on for six. That made him 12 in 12 balls.

Marsh finished with a run-a-ball 118 with 17 fours and four sixes. The next top score was Travis Head with 39 in a Test Australia lost by three wickets, allowing England back into the series. While Australia faded, Marsh blossomed to top the Ashes batting average with 50.

Mitch Marsh celebrates his century at Headingley.Credit: Reuters

His flourish from England continued during Australia’s triumphant World Cup campaign in India, finishing as Australia’s second top run scorer behind David Warner with 441 at an average of 49, making two centuries and a half-century. This after taking Australia to their only Twenty20 World Cup title in Dubai during 2021 with a player-of-the-match 77 not out against New Zealand in the final.

It has prompted discussion about whether the attacking Marsh should be Warner’s replacement at the top of the order in the Test team when the feisty opener finishes following the New Year’s Test in Sydney – assuming he gets that far. This would allow Cameron Green back into the middle order as the team’s all-rounder.

“It’s a possibility,” Cummins said on Friday. “You’re open to anything really. We’ve seen him make that shift in white-ball cricket, put the pressure back on the opening bowlers and hit them off their lengths. You never say never, but I thought what he did down at No.6 in the Ashes was pretty impressive.”

Marsh, 32, is reluctant to talk about what possibilities may await with the batting order. He is just delighted to have reignited his Test career and be preparing for a Test in his home town of Perth that he feared my have passed him by.

It’s a far cry from his observations during the 2019 Ashes tour when he bluntly said: “Yeah, most of Australia hate me.”

A chequered 35-Test career across almost a decade has been marred by injuries and inconsistency. He averages 27 with the bat and 40 with the ball, although his batting average in Perth is 48 from three Tests.

Those matches were at the WACA Ground. He has never played a Test at the shiny new Perth Stadium across the Swan River, although it is the same pitch soil that local officials hope will continue to produce fast and bouncy decks.

While Marsh’s last home Test was six years ago, he has played 16 matches for the Scorchers at Perth Stadium and loves it. A batting average of 40 and strike rate of 156 at the ground helps, but it’s the crowd that makes it special. Scorchers matches are like rock concerts.

“It’s amazing,” Marsh said. “West Australian fans have always been incredible to play in front of, and when the Scorchers play there, it certainly has a different feel to it. We’ve managed to pack out that stadium a couple of times over the last few years, and it’s always an incredible experience.”

The two biggest Big Bash crowds last season were 53,886 at Perth Stadium for the Scorchers v Heat final, more than attended all five days of the West Indies Test there. The 41,126 a week earlier for the Scorchers’ qualifying final was closer to the Test’s total turn up.

Sadly for Marsh, he was a spectator recovering from an ankle operation as the Scorchers charged to a second straight title and fifth overall. He is hopeful the love shown for the Scorchers will start to translate to Test cricket in Perth.

Cricket Australia is hopeful of getting a crowd of 20,000 on Thursday and passing the previous best Test attendance for Pakistan in Perth, 42,193, by day three.

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