It remains uncertain how much of a role Mitchell Marsh will be able to play with the ball in Adelaide even if he is passed fit to remain in the Test XI as Australia look to square the series under lights on a ground where they are unbeaten in day-night Tests.
Marsh had a solid hit out with the bat in the nets on Tuesday after a few days off with his family in Perth following the end of the first Test, where he pulled up sore after sending down 17 overs. He didn’t bowl in training, but it was a light day for most of the attack, with Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins gently going through their actions.
Australia’s main training session will come on Wednesday evening, when there could be a clearer indication of whether Marsh is a viable bowling option this week. Uncapped Tasmania allrounder Beau Webster has been added to the squad as cover for Marsh.
It remains a live option that Marsh plays as a specialist batter in the second Test. Cummins and Andrew McDonald have been consistent in saying that the primary reason Marsh has been in the side is that he is among the best six Test batters in the country.
Since his recall against England at Headingley last year, where he made a sparkling hundred, he is Australia’s leading scorer with 657 runs at an average of 41.06 – only the retired David Warner and the injured Cameron Green have a higher average in that period.
However, if Marsh is included and is unable to offer any overs, it would take Australia back to a balance they haven’t had for a considerable time. Since the 2020-21 season against India, when Green made his debut, there have been only three Tests, once against South Africa in Sydney and two in India, when neither Green nor Marsh has been around to contribute with the ball. Only once in Marsh’s 43-Test career has he not bowled a single delivery in a Test – against India in Pune in 2017 – and though he was lightly used last season, that was partly because Green returned for the West Indies and New Zealand series.
Prior to late 2020, the balance of four frontline bowlers and a few make-up overs was common, but for the majority of Cummins’ time as captain, he has had that extra option and before the season began, he talked up the significance of both Marsh and Green. “Ideally he [Marsh] will be able to bowl in each Test match,” Cummins had said after the Perth Test.
“It’s quite a big reaction externally for one Test loss. Internally, we don’t feel that. We didn’t play the way we would have liked to have played, but we know over four, five Test matches, [if] we keep rocking up and playing our style at cricket we will have the success”
Alex Carey
Although Marnus Labuschagne’s unconvincing medium pace would remain on tap, as well as Travis Head’s very serviceable offspin, not having a genuine fourth-seamer option could be a significant gamble if there is a considerable workload for the frontline quicks given the next two Tests in Adelaide and Brisbane are back-to-back. There was an indication that further pace-bowling resources could be needed when two bowlers – Sean Abbott and Brendan Doggett – were called up to replace the injured Josh Hazlewood.
“I think he’ll be right,” Alex Carey said of Marsh. “I haven’t heard otherwise. His batting has been fantastic for us since he’s come back into this team, and his bowling again, he took some handy wickets. So hopefully he’s right and ready to go.”
Australia were overwhelmed in Perth with the top order blown away in both innings – Nathan McSweeney, Usman Khawaja, Steven Smith and Labuschagne made 44 runs between them. But on the fourth day, Marsh, Carey and Head gave a glimpse of what they could do when the ball gets a little bit older. Getting India’s bowlers into their third and fourth spells without too much damage done is Australia’s big challenge.
“I feel like for myself, Trav, Mitch, we play differently to those top four, and we try to go out there with strong intent, whereas the top four can bat all day – and have done it before – and really grind teams into the ground,” Carey said. “I think that’s the style, as you know, [for] the middle order but there’s opportunities as well to absorb the pressure if it comes our way.”
On balance, Carey felt the longer gap between the first two Tests had probably been a good thing for Australia to allow the players some time away after the defeat. But it has also meant for extensive analysis of what was a loss of rare magnitude on home soil and Carey indicated some surprise at the fallout from the result.
“It’s quite a big reaction externally for one Test loss,” he said. “Internally, we don’t feel that. We didn’t play the way we would have liked to have played, but we know over four, five Test matches, [if] we keep rocking up and playing our style at cricket we will have the success. We’ve had that success to call upon [and] the method does work. We’re calm internally and we’re excited to get back out and play and play a better style of cricket.”
Elsewhere during Australia’s session, Labuschagne had another extensive net as he searches for form, while Smith took a blow on the fingers when Labuschagne was giving him throwdowns and was checked by the team doctor but was soon able to resume batting.
There is currently an increasing risk of showers and thunderstorms hitting the opening day of the Adelaide Test but the remainder of the game should be fine.
