Shaun Marsh’s Test future under increasingly pressure after failing in one-day international return
SHAUN Marsh was looking for an exclamation point at Adelaide Oval but came up with another question mark as a crunch selection call looms for the first Test.
SHAUN Marsh was looking for an exclamation point at Adelaide Oval but came up with another question mark as a crunch selection call looms for the first Test.
The enigmatic star played some nice shots in his return from a painful buttocks injury, but departed for 22, leaving Australia with plenty to think about as they try and settle on a philosophy for competing against India in the summer showpiece.
Marsh is on trial on two fronts.
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No one – except Aaron Finch and Alex Carey – is safe in the Australian one-day order six months out from the World Cup.
But after coach Justin Langer declared Marsh could save his spot in the Test side by making big runs during this 50-over series, the 35-year-old now only has one more chance in Hobart on Sunday to cement his place for the Adelaide Test opener against India in a month’s time.
Marsh made 80 and 98 in his one and only Sheffield Shield outing two weeks ago to add significant weight to his claims for one more chance.
Depending on how Langer and the selectors are thinking, that would be enough to justify him securing his place for another summer, eight years after his Test debut.
It’s the safe option to back in the experienced head in a time of crisis and uncertainty.
But there is another school of thought that if selectors don’t continue to try and take a spin on a couple of young talents while David Warner and Steve Smith are suspended then it will be an opportunity missed.
Kerry O’Keeffe has sung the praises of NSW technical sensation Jason Sangha, who at 19 years of age has two first-class centuries to his name from just five matches.
There is huge support for West Australian 21-year-old Josh Philippe who possesses the batting style of a class act in the making.
Victorian opener Marcus Harris is building a convincing case and there are others around the country like Sam Heazlett and Jake Lehmann who would be bold selections which take a look to the future.
Not to mention incumbents from the last Test tour Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head who shouldn’t simply be cast aside.
Labuschagne hasn’t convinced with the bat for Queensland since returning home but he was everywhere the action was in his two Tests and Head showed enough in his match-saving effort on debut to suggest he deserves faith.
But if Usman Khawaja beats the clock to be back from injury for the first Test and well-performed and proven picks Matt Renshaw and Peter Handscomb are recalled as many anticipate, then some tough calls must be made.
If coach Langer wants reasons to stick with Shaun Marsh for the first Test, he has them.
But if he thinks this must be a time to make an investment in the future, Marsh is yet to do enough to take himself out of the firing line.
Originally published as Shaun Marsh’s Test future under increasingly pressure after failing in one-day international return