Marsh’s hilarious - and tear-jerking - Allan Border Medal speech goes viral

The room was erupting in laughter - but also fighting back tears on multiple occasions - as Mitch Marsh accepted the Allan Border Medal.

It’s been hailed as the greatest acceptance speech in Allan Border Medal history and you’ll struggle to find a better one in any sport, anywhere.

Mitchell Marsh capped off a stellar comeback year by taking home Australian cricket’s highest honour on Wednesday night and won a legion of new fans by delivering eight minutes of pure gold on stage.

The powerful all-rounder has straddled the highs and lows of professional cricket for over a decade and faced some of the heaviest scrutiny placed on a player in recent memory.

But he’s now completed a fairytale career revival, becoming arguably the most popular player in Australian cricket with fans after earlier in his career claiming most of Australia “hated” him.

From the moment he walked on stage to collect the award, you could see just how much it meant to him.

Asked if he’d ever dreamt a moment like this could be possible, Marsh said:

“I really hadn’t thought about it until a few of the boys started getting stuck in to me that they thought I was going to win it and then I started thinking ‘maybe I’m a chance’.

“I had four beers at lunch so I had to stop there. Now I’m sort of hoping that me winning this is not like Covid and we don’t look back in three years and think ‘that was a weird time’. It’s obviously a huge honour.”

But zingers like that were complimented beautifully by raw moments of his emotion.

Mitch Marsh had the room in hysterics. (Photo by Jonathan DiMaggio/Getty Images for Cricket Australia)

He shed a tear as he thanked his wife Greta for supporting him throughout periods of deep uncertainty. He candidly admitted the arrival of young all-rounder Cameron Green, touted by many as a future great of the game, would be the final nail in the coffin for his international career.

“Cameron Green is a pretty imposing figure, so I thought I was done and dusted,” he said.
“But I often spoke to my wife (pauses to fight back tears) ... that I wanted to get one more crack at it. It’s been amazing.”

“We got married eight months ago and I didn’t fit into my wedding suit (today),” Marsh added. “So I’ve (settled) into married life just beautifully.

“Greta is an amazing human. I said in my wedding vows eight months ago she’s given me the perspective on life I needed. Our life is just a lot of fun. Every day I come home from cricket, whether I get a duck or a hundred, she’s still the same.”

A brilliant resurgence in form that began with a recall during last year’s Ashes saw Marsh muscle his way past national heavyweights Pat Cummins and Steve Smith for the medal.

His comeback ton against England in his first Test in four years gave Australia a taste of what was to come.

He went on to score over fifty in half of his next 10 Test innings, including crucial scores against Pakistan at moments in the series when the tourists clawed back the upper hand.

He also played a significant role in Australia’s victorious World Cup campaign, including a standout partnership with Warner and a matchwinning innings against Bangladesh.

That all-format dominance saw the 32-year-old collect 223 votes, significantly more than Cummins in second place with 144.

Mitchell Marsh showed just how much it meant to him.

It’s resulted in two scarcely believable realities.

First, that he can now claim to be the best cricketer in his family after living in the shadow of his father Geoff and brother Shaun for such a long time.

And secondly that he will go down as a beloved figure by Aussie cricket fans.

“I have a beautiful family,” Marsh said. “Dad obviously did what he did and Shaun did what he did. But Shaun’s my brother and Dad’s my dad. And they’ve never been anything more than that to me. My mum and sister are amazing (too). My sister is probably my biggest supporter. Anyone that’s sprayed me on social media - she’ll get you at some point.”

As for his famous line about being hated, Marsh said: “I often regret that statement. It was made tongue in cheek and now every press conference I do starts with that. Hopefully I shake that comment. But there’s no doubt over the last 12-18 months playing in this team I’ve felt a lot of love and it’s helped me a lot.”

Only the very very best cricketers claim Allan Border Medals. The list of winners is limited to names like Waugh, Ponting, McGrath and Smith ... and now Marsh.

“That’s weird isn’t it,” Marsh said, to more laughs. “I won’t lie, one of my friends sent me the list today and I just thought if I win it, it’s going to look weird. To think I join some of the legends of our sport in Australia, it really is a huge honour. I can’t believe it.”

Mitchell Marsh and Greta arrive ahead of the 2024 Cricket Australia Awards. (Photo by Morgan Hancock/Getty Images for Cricket Australia)

Marsh was then given the microphone to thank his supporters and acknowledged his wife, WA cricket and his personal batting coach before thanking his teammates and coach.

“I’d like to pay particular thank yous to Ronny (McDonald) and Patty (Cummins) ... (pauses to fight back tears) you believed in me and I can’t thank you enough for just believing in me.

“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. For your support Patty and your leadership - playing under you is an absolute dream.”

He then fought back tears for the third time while thanking his family.

“I know how proud you’ll be,” he said. “Dad will be having six stubbies at the pub and be telling me to stop crying, so it’s probably time to get off the stage.

“I really can’t quite believe it ... I’ll see you all on the dancefloor.”

The speech has already been shared widely across the cricket globe and floored pundits from India to England.

“You have to try quite hard to dislike Mitch Marsh,” tweeted Telegraph cricket writer Will Macpherson. “Super speech, super character.”

“One of the great sports acceptance speeches,” added the BBC’s Henry Moeran.