DARREN BERRY COLUMN:
NO CONFIDENCE, NO FORM AND REPEAT TEST FAILURES
“At 35 years of age, Marsh sadly has never truly fulfilled his potential and talent at this level, and is unlikely to ever play Test match cricket again. The moving ball has exposed his technique at the top of the order. “
ANOTHER Test match, another collective batting failure by our team in the UAE.
Standing out like a beacon for all the wrong reasons is Shaun Marsh, who surely has played his last Test match for Australia.
His return in this two-match Test series reads a paltry 14 runs at 3.5 — in more-than-decent batting conditions.
Perhaps even more damning are the facts reflected in his past 12 Test innings, which have yielded just 161 runs at 13.5.
No matter how much allegiance new coach Justin Langer has with the Marsh family, his time has now expired.
At 35 years of age, Marsh sadly has never truly fulfilled his potential and talent at this level, and is unlikely to ever play Test match cricket again.
The moving ball has exposed his technique at the top of the order.
Mohammad Abbas has twice dismissed him nicking behind when reaching outside off-stump.
Then left-armer Mir Hamza cleaned him up on Thursday night with a good length ball that squared him up and took his off stump.
He looks totally bereft of confidence and his feet are anchored in cement.
Once the feet are stuck on the crease, all sorts of issues develop.
His head position has fallen regularly to the off side, giving a false perception of the line of the ball, and playing the wrong line with hard hands has been the outcome.
He was equally all at sea against debutant off-spinner Bilal Asif in Dubai during his brief stay at the crease.
Younger brother Mitch Marsh, recently elevated to the Test vice captaincy, is also under severe scrutiny, but I believe will survive at this stage given his recent leadership appointment.
The Australian selectors must move him back down the order to No. 6 where he belongs as our elusive all-rounder.
His heavy feet early in his innings are not suitable to a top-order position, especially when the ball is moving in the air.
I am perhaps one of the few who believe Marsh Jr will come good and I would stick with him throughout this summer — but only batting at No 6 or 7 and playing as our third or fourth seamer.
He will be dangerous in the middle order this summer at home.
Why do our batsmen continue to fail in the subcontinent?
Many have tried but very few have succeeded in these conditions, where the ball behaves very differently than what our batsmen are groomed for in Australian first-class cricket.
Our batsmen, as a collective, are flat-track bullies who flourish at home and flounder away.
The wickets we play Sheffield Shield cricket on rarely break up and offer very little incentive for spinners.
As a result, state teams do not develop and nurture spinners very well. It’s a double-edged sword for us, as we do not promote spinners and therefore our batsmen are rarely tested against them in games, and when they are it tends to be in batting friendly conditions.
As the new coach, Langer must address this issue, as it’s a mountain we have very rarely climbed in Asia.
Don’t be surprised if his exAustralian opening partner Matthew Hayden is employed as a subcontinent mentor in the near future.
Hayden overcame early demons in his career in Asia to dominate in the latter part of his career.
He had a real presence at the crease and developed a powerful sweep shot, along with soft hands in his rock-solid defence midway through his career, which enabled him to counteract some quality spinners in difficult conditions.
He made the adjustments, so why can’t others make the same transition?
It has been refreshing to watch Usman Khawaja during this series finally show us he has a game that can flourish away from home.
Let’s hope this knee injury is only minor, as he will be crucial at home this summer.
It has also been exciting to witness local boy Aaron Finch play his natural game at the top of the order as a mature-age debutant.
Finally Finch has realised what works in white-ball cricket can also be effective against red leather.
Finch has certainly improved over the past few years, mainly in the fact that his bat swing arc arrives at connection point in a much straighter plane.
He is using the full face and trusting his defence, which in the past was full of holes.
He looks set for a massive summer ahead.