Michael Clarke says Mitchell Marsh can be a future captain of Australia

I believe young all-rounder Mitchell Marsh can be a future captain of Australia, writes current Aussie skipper Michael Clarke.

Clarke: Marsh a future Aussie captain

I believe Mitchell Marsh can be a future captain of Australia.

That might sound like a big call for a bloke who only turned 23 on Monday and has yet to play a Test match.

But I have toured with him quite a few times now and continue to be impressed with his talent, knowledge and game awareness. His cricketing maturity is at least five years ahead of the date of birth printed on his passport.

I don’t have any plans to give up the captaincy yet – there’s plenty more cricket left in me – but I genuinely see Mitch as future leadership material.

AUSSIES STRUGGLING WITH FORM, INJURY FEARS

AUS V PAK A: FIVE THINGS WE LEARNED

Mitch Marsh has impressed teammates with his mature approach to bowling.

When he sets fields, you can see that he is thinking not from the bowler’s perspective, but the batsman’s.

He is assessing conditions, the batsman’s strengths and weaknesses and the opportunities to exploit the latter. And when he is batting, he is not one of those guys running around without a plan. He is thinking about how to construct an innings.

I also love how much he cares about the team. If Mitch has a game in which he doesn’t get among the runs or wickets, he always goes out of his way to congratulate those that have. He doesn’t get lost in his own little world. He is all about the team.

He has had an amazing cricketing journey. Obviously his dad and brother are outstanding cricketers in their own right, but there is more to the story than that.

Since he was a kid, Geoff Marsh has coached Australia, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka and Mitchell spent a lot of time with him.

He has been exposed to overseas conditions, players and theories about the game from a young age. He’s obviously got plenty of talent - he might just be the cleanest hitter of the ball for a bloke who can also bowl 130km/h that I’ve seen - but his understanding of the game is well beyond his years.

Assuming he’s fit, Mitch is a big chance of earning his Test debut against Pakistan this week. Should that happen, you just know he’ll be the kind of guy to treasure the baggy green. He has an extremely bright future.

So, too, does Steven O’Keefe. Steve is another who is a big chance to make his Test debut this week.

Aussie skipper Michael Clarke hasn’t had an ideal preparation for the Test series against Pakistan.

His selection would be a fitting reward for the years of toil he has put in at first-class level. He is a player who, as he has matured, has really come to understand his game and play to his strengths.

He looked good in the practice games and I reckon he’d be a strong contributor in a two-man spin attack alongside Nathan Lyon. From what we’ve seen of the conditions in the United Arab Emirates so far, two spinners is a serious option.

The injury news around the group is positive at this stage. Davey Warner looks to have overcome his groin injury and my hamstring held up well throughout the tour game.

I would’ve liked to score some more runs, but I was nonetheless encouraged to have got through two solid days in the field without experiencing any pain.

It’s all coming together for what should be a very exciting week.