Marsh rated a danger for Shield rivals
CRICKET: Axed Test all-rounder Mitch Marsh begins his quest to regain his international spot when Western Australia face Victoria in the Sheffield Shield this weekend.
Instead of facing India at the Adelaide Oval, Marsh will be captaining the Warriors against the table-topping Bushrangers at the MCG from today.
The third-placed Warriors have made three changes to their squad for the trip to Melbourne with Josh Philippe, D’Arcy Short and Jonathon Wells coming into a 14-man group.
Marsh’s older brother Shaun is unavailable due to his Australian commitments.
The Bushrangers have also been forced into changes with captain Peter Handscomb and batsmen Aaron Finch and Marcus Harris in the Test team.
Opener Travis Dean will lead the Bushrangers in Handscomb’s absence and said a wounded Marsh would be a dangerous prospect.
“He’s a class player so you always worry about him no matter what the situation is,” Dean said yesterday.
“They’ve got a line-up stacked with talent, so you’ve got to be wary of all of them, especially Mitch coming back from the Test squad.”
Tasmania, without Test captain Tim Paine, have named two potential debutants for their home clash against Queensland starting today with Charlie Wakim and Sean Willis both in line to play.
The Bulls have recalled experienced pace bowler Peter George for the clash at Blundstone Arena as fifth-placed Queensland try to leapfrog fourth-placed Tasmania.
In the other game, NSW will host South Australia at the SCG.
It’s the final round of matches before the competition takes a back seat to the Big Bash League.