Mitchell Marsh ‘ready to bowl as much’ as Australia need him to in Brisbane

Mitchell Marsh has insisted there is no limit to the number of overs he can send down against India, having put his trust in the coaching and medical staff amid a cautious build-up to the series and then careful management ahead of the Adelaide Test.

Marsh has been nursing periodic back stiffness since the white-ball tour of the UK in September, where he bowled just once – in the ODI at Lord’s – which was the first time he’d had ball in hand since suffering a hamstring injury in the IPL in April.

There had been plans for him to bowl in the Sheffield Shield early in the season but those were put on ice by the ongoing back issues. He took two wickets on the opening day of the Perth Test, sending down 17 overs in total for the match, after which he pulled up sore, which led to doubts over his place for Adelaide with Beau Webster called up as cover.

Marsh didn’t bowl in the lead-up, with Pat Cummins saying it was a decision not to use up overs at training, before finishing with a innocuous none for 26 from four overs in the first innings.

“Not in my mind, no,” Marsh said when asked if there was an upper limit on his bowling capacity for the series. “I’ll try and be ready to bowl as much as Patty needs me. Our allrounders haven’t bowled a hell of a lot in Australia the last few years, but I am really thankful for our medical staff and Ronny [coach Andrew McDonald] and Patty who have allowed me the space between that first and second Test to just get right for the game.

“I didn’t bowl as much as I would have liked to in the lead-up to the series, but our medical staff, Ronnie and Patty were really clear. I trusted that.”

Such was the speed with which Australia bowled out India twice in Adelaide, needing just 80 overs, that even Nathan Lyon was only required to send down a single over as Mitchell Starc, Cummins and Scott Boland went to work.

“When I got to the change rooms they asked if I hit it and I said ‘yeah, I smashed it’. And then the replay came up and the head went into the hands and about one minute later everyone else was laughing at me”

Mitchell Marsh on walking in Adelaide

In the Gabba Test against West Indies earlier this year, Australia used Marsh, Cameron Green, Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne for a combined 23 overs.

“I had an interrupted lead-in but I am really well placed,” Marsh said. “For me it is about being able to contribute. Whether that is five overs and bowling the occasional good ball and getting a wicket or just bowling overs to give our boys a chop out. Right now, it [the back] is feeling as good as it has felt.”

Away from the bowling discussion, Marsh was involved in one of the more curious incidents during the Adelaide Test when he walked for an edge behind against R Ashwin only for replays to show he hadn’t hit the ball.

“The reality is I thought I hit it and I didn’t,” Marsh said. “I didn’t speak to Heady [at the non-striker’s end]. I had a mare. When I got to the change rooms they asked if I hit it and I said ‘yeah, I smashed it’. And then the replay came up and the head went into the hands and about one minute later everyone else was laughing at me.”