Australian great Ian Healy believes that Mitchell Marsh has earned his ticket to be in the squad for the Ashes series beginning at the Gabba on December 8, following his commanding performance in the ICC T20 World Cup, and especially in the final against New Zealand on Sunday night.
Marsh, who was adjudged ‘Player of the Match’ in Australia’s eight-wicket win over the Black Caps, bludgeoned the Kiwi bowling attack, scoring 77 off 50 deliveries to singlehandedly take the game away from their Trans-Tasman rivals.
Marsh made 185 runs at an average of 62 in the UAE.
Former Australian wicketkeeper-batter Healy feels Marsh could help remedy Australia’s right-hander conundrum. “I reckon he’s right up there,” Healy told SEN 1170 Breakfast on Monday. “I’d have the number five spot in the Ashes for him, if he can get back and demonstrate any sort of red-ball ability and his form line continuing, I’m having him in.
“We need an extra right hander in there I reckon and he’s the man. I’d have him in there, so that’s how highly I think of him,” added Healy.
However, another cricketing great and former Australia skipper Ian Chappell is more reserved in his assessment, saying that white-ball cricket was totally different from red-ball cricket. Chappell, however, said that Marsh should be considered.
“How to you extrapolate form in 20-over cricket into the longer form of the game?” Chappell asked. “Other players have had the Sheffield Shield in Australia to get some form and some runs on the board whereas Mitch hasn’t had that opportunity. He’s an experienced player and he’s had success in Test cricket and particularly Ashes cricket before, so I think the selectors will consider it.
“They’ll sit down and figure out what the best make-up of the team is, you mentioned Cameron Green, Mitch is an all-rounder or at least a batsman that can give you quality overs. I think Cameron showed last summer that there’s quite a bit of potential there and he’s in reasonable form for Western Australia. The selectors will probably spend more time on the last two places of the team compared to the first nine places.”
The 30-year-old Marsh last played a Test in 2019, where he bagged a five-wicket haul against England at The Oval.
