Opinion
We’ve all come to love Mitch Marsh, but has the Bison run out of time?
Brendan Foster
ContributorIf Test all-rounder Mitch Marsh waltzed into a bar in Western Australia, it’s unlikely the cricketer affectionately known as “the Bison” would have to pay for a beer
The loveable larrikin of Australian cricket has charmed even the most hardened critics with his goofy antics and self-deprecating humour.
But because of his stuttering career, Sandgropers have had a complex love/hate relationship with Marsh that makes Napoleon and Josephine’s dangerous dalliance seem timid.
Now the enigmatic West Aussie’s Test career seems all but over after he was axed for Australia’s final game against India at the SCG, replaced by Tasmanian Beau Webster.
Marsh’s form during the Border-Gavaskar series makes for grim reading.
He has averaged just a tick over 10 with the bat in the first four Tests, which has been flattered by his 47 in the second dig of the Perth Test when the game was all but over.
His batting average for 2024 is 18.
The medium pacer has had little impact with the ball against India, taking just three wickets in the first Test. Marsh looked to be carrying a niggling injury, but he has only bowled 16 overs in the last three Tests, and with no wickets to show for it.
His lack of overs has meant Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins have been forced to carry heavier loads. Starc has been declared fit for the Sydney Test, despite showing signs of discomfort in the first innings of the MCG.
Likeable or not, Marsh had become a liability. In the end, the selectors who have often been accused of not making the big calls on veteran players, could no longer ignore Marsh’s horrific form.
Cummins told the media that on Thursday morning, but felt the time was right to introduce Webster to the team.
“‘Mitchy’ obviously hasn’t quite got the runs, and perhaps wickets this series,” Cummins said.
“So we felt like it was time for a freshen up and Beau’s been great.
“It’s a shame for Mitchy, because we know how much he brings to the team, but feel like now it’s a good week for Beau to get a chance.”
Given Marsh’s undulating career, you’d be a brave person to predict he couldn’t make a return to Test cricket. But at 33, it’s looking less likely.
And with wunderkind Cameron Green expected to be fit mid-year, it’s difficult to see how Mitch fits into a team that has finally started to blood new talent.
It’s hard to think of a cricketer that has had more chances than Marsh.
The selectors have persisted with him because the brains trust have an unnatural obsession in picking an all-rounder that is more than handy with both bat and ball.
Australian cricket has looked on in wonder as likes of Ian Botham, Kapil Dev, Imran Khan and, most recently, Ben Stokes won games from impossible positions.
No one expected Marsh to replicate those heady feats, but even the selectors finally accepted with a degree of grace, that given his recent dire performances, it was time to move on.
At his best, Marsh could bludgeon the best attacks as if they were bowling with a tennis ball. The West Aussie was vaudevillian in his stroke playing.
We just didn’t see enough of it.
Ever since he made his Test debut against Pakistan in 2014, there were lofty expectations Marsh would become the all-rounder Australians so desperately wanted.
After a splattering start to his career, he was dropped for the First Test against South Africa in 2016.
He was recalled for the Third Test of the 2017-18 Ashes Series, where he hit his highest Test score of 181 on a flat WACA pitch. He followed it up with another ton in the following Test in Sydney.
Marsh was named joint vice-captain in September 2018, so it appeared his place in the Test team would finally be assured.
A few months later, he was remarkably left out of the first Test against India. Soon after, Marsh lost his national contract and was axed from all formats.
His international career seemed all but over.
He got one of his many reprieves in the final game of the 2019 Ashes Series, where Marsh took his first five-wicket haul in Test cricket.
In a press conference after the day’s play, Marsh delivered one of the most hilarious self-deprecating interviews, claiming he was possibly the most hated man in Australian cricket.
“Australians are very passionate, they love their cricket, and they want people to do well,” Marsh said.
“There’s no doubt I’ve had a lot of opportunity at Test level and I haven’t quite nailed it.”
The Bison was born.
Marsh then found himself out of the Test team again the following summer, when he busted his hand after punching a wall following his dismissal in a Sheffield Shield match against Tasmania.
With Green making his debut in the first Test against India in December 2020, Marsh’s days of playing red-ball cricket for Australia again seemed finished.
Marsh got an unexpected call-up for the Third Test in the 2023 Ashes to replace an injured Green.
When he came in with Australia at 4/85, no one could predict what was about to happen next.
Marsh elegantly clubbed the English attack to all parts of the ground, finishing with a stunning 118 off 118 balls.
He would then go on to be the highest run scorer in the next Test series against Pakistan.
The West Australian capped off a stunning resurgence by winning the Allan Border Medal in early 2024. He had gone from being the most maligned person in Australian cricket to almost the first one picked in all formats.
Now, less than a year after being named Australia’s top cricketer, Marsh has been axed from the Test team again.
Mitch has undoubtedly been one of the most divisive cricketers in the last 25 years, to don the Baggy Green for Australia.
Cricket fans have been brutally unkind to Marsh, but when he started to fail with the bat against India, there was less venom online.
The social media sendoff was partly filled with gratitude. There was an overwhelming sense that if Marsh gets dropped this time, it’s for good.
Despite moments of brilliance, the all-rounder has underperformed throughout his Test career. His stats tell the real story. A batting average of 28.5 and just over 40 with the ball.
Whatever Marsh’s future, love or loathe him, the Bison was everything fans craved in their sportspeople: he was authentically himself.
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