Mitchell Marsh wall punch could prove a breakthrough moment for maligned Test all-rounder
Mitchell Marsh has been rightly labelled an idiot for his stupidity in fracturing his hand on the eve of the Test summer, but he might have proved something about himself in the process.
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There’s one positive about Mitchell Marsh’s crime of passion.
At least it shows how much he cares.
Marsh says Australian coach Justin Langer called him an “idiot” after he broke his hand punching the WACA dressing room wall.
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And that would be the kindest way to put it, given the brain explosion has ruled him out for up to six weeks and jeopardised his Test summer.
Marsh made 41 and 53 at the WACA last week and was filthy at blowing a golden opportunity to kick on and make a big hundred which could have secured his place at No.6 for the first Test against Pakistan next month.
“I’m gutted. To have let my teammates (and coach) down,” said Marsh on Tuesday.
“I am pretty emotional and passionate. When you get out in cricket your emotions can get the better of you. It’s pretty uncharacteristic of me to want to punch a wall. I’m a pretty easy going sort of bloke.”
It’s hard to defend the stupidity, but in a funny way beneath the fractures and cracked gyprock, Marsh may have proved to a few critics that he is a cricketer of substance.
When Marsh made a shock return for the fifth Ashes Test and starred with the ball, he made the stunning self-assessment that “Most of Australia hate me.”
The 27-year-old replaced Shane Watson as Australia’s all-rounder and at the same time unwittingly took over as the national punching bag.
Marsh has been so overwhelmed by the angry mob at times that last summer he was sledged by a fellow surfer out beyond the breakers who suggested, “how about stick to your day job and score some runs”, before paddling off.
But when Marsh put his fist through the gyprock wall at the WACA, it laid bare just how desperate he is to do just that – score runs.
So desperate is Marsh that he has sacrificed over $3 million dollars over the past two years to try to make it as a Test cricketer.
Marsh put English county cricket ahead of the lucrative Indian Premier League for back-to-back seasons.
How many other Australian cricketers would be prepared to sacrifice millions of dollars for the chance to play just one solitary Ashes Test match?
His reaction was beyond stupid, but perhaps Australia is closer to getting the Mitchell Marsh they’ve always craved?
Ben Stokes famously missed the 2014 World Twenty20 after breaking his hand punching a locker.
And while trying to mirror Stokes’ pugilistic pursuits is not a wise idea on any level, Marsh would be doing well if he could take a few other things from the copybook of the England superstar.
And Australian captain Tim Paine says that’s exactly what Marsh is trying to do.
“You see with Ben Stokes you’ve got to be super fit (to succeed as an all-rounder) and for him to see that up close has resonated with him,” said Paine.
“He’s working really hard. He looks right on the cusp of a breakthrough innings and when he makes that he’ll kick onto a really good career.
“He’s still only a young man.”
Originally published as Mitchell Marsh wall punch could prove a breakthrough moment for maligned Test all-rounder