‘Hated’ Marsh swings opening day in Australia’s favour
Mitch Marsh rewarded the Australian selectors’ faith with a careerbest haul in the fifth Ashes test then addressed the elephant in the room.
‘‘Yeah, most of Australia hate me,’’ Marsh said with a smile after taking 4-35 and grabbing the prized scalp of Ben Stokes, as England rallied to reach 271-8 at stumps on day one at The Oval.
Marsh was recalled for his 32nd test, and first since Boxing Day against India. With a batting average of 25 and bowling average of 44 Marsh is Australia’s most polarising test player and admitted he was aware of the background noise every time he’s picked.
‘‘Australians are passionate, they love their cricket, they want people to do well. There’s no doubt I’ve had a lot of opportunity at test level and haven’t quite nailed it,’’ he said.
‘‘But hopefully they can respect me for the fact that I keep coming back and I love playing for Australia. Hopefully I’ll win them [fans] over one day.’’
Marsh, recalled alongside Peter Siddle as Australia hunt their first Ashes series win in England since 2001, trudged off late because of cramp. It was the only thing that went wrong on a dominant day for the West Australian.
A counter-punch from Jos Buttler, who shared an unbeaten 45-run stand with Jack Leach, delivered the latest twist on a topsyturvy day.
Joe Root failed to make the most of dropped catches on 24, 25 and 30; falling for 57 as Marsh made amends for his team-mates’ sloppiness.
The allrounder replaced Travis Head in the XI that retained the urn in Manchester to offer the pace attack some relief, with captain Tim Paine noting Marsh had ‘‘worked his backside off’’ and was ‘‘aspiring to’’ match Stokes’ work ethic.
Marsh did far more than hold up an end, igniting a collapse of 5-75 when a mistimed pull shot from Stokes somehow resulted in a skied catch for Nathan Lyon at point.
The 27-year-old, who generated impressive swing, removed Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran and Chris Woakes to snare 3-17 in an eightover spell after tea. Marsh also held a catch at mid-on to dismiss Rory Burns for 47, that wicket coming after Siddle, Paine and Steve Smith grassed chances offered by Root.