Young guns provide a bright spot

While Australia might have fallen to a heavy defeat to South Africa in the second Carlton Mid ODI in Perth on Sunday, they can at least leave the west knowing two of their brightest young stars have what it takes to cut it at the highest level.

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Mitchell Marsh and Josh Hazlewood have been earmarked for higher honours from an early age. In 2010, Marsh captained Hazlewood and Australia to the U19 Cricket World Cup title in New Zealand.

Marsh made 97 off 110 balls in the semi-final win over Sri Lanka in a man-of-the-match performance, while Hazlewood took 4-26 as Australia advanced to the final as raging hot tournament favourites.

Three days later, Hazlewood would take another four wickets (4-30) to himself win the man-of-the-match honours as Marsh’s men beat Pakistan by 25 runs to provide a glimpse of a promising future for Australian cricket.

Fast forward four years, and once again the pair are contributing for Australia, only this time it’s with the big boys.

Marsh’s defiant knock of 67 from 88 balls was complied with patience and game sense for a man beyond his years in the three-wicket loss on his home turf, the WACA Ground. 

With wickets crumbling around him, Marsh was the batting pillar in Australia’s below par score of 154, restraining himself until the final wickets to unleash the brute power that’s seen him explode on the domestic scene as a 17-year-old and then as a boom allrounder in the national team.

Hazlewood, who took 5-31, his first five-wicket haul in one-day international cricket, was reminiscent of a young Glenn McGrath with pace, bounce and a touch of away swing, and has followed a similar path to his U19 skipper. 

Debuting for NSW in 2008 at the age of 17 against the touring New Zealanders, Hazlewood claimed the wicket of Black Caps captain Daniel Vettori in the second innings to finish with three wickets for the match.

In less than two years, the Bendemeer-born fast bowler was making his ODI debut in Southampton against England, dismissing Craig Kieswetter for his first international scalp. 

But the inevitable curse of injury would strike both young men, halting their progress until their bodies and form allowed them to return to the big stage. 

Their display on Sunday showed that their fitness has caught up with their talent, and in a team full of superstars, they stepped up and impressed the modest crowd and, more importantly, their captain. 

“Yeah wonderful once again,” George Bailey said of Marsh’s performance with the bat. 

“Terrific temperament. Great to bat with. 

“It’s a wide looking bat when its coming down the wicket at you. Wonderful for him, just would have been nice for someone to help him out there, but a really nicely paced innings with a lot going on around him, so he’d be really proud of the way he got through that period and got through his innings. 

“And once again with the ball, I thought Josh Hazlewood, just simply outstanding. 

“He’s been threatening to do that a little bit, Hoff. 

“A bit like Morne (Morkel), he hits a length that is very, very awkward.

(He) makes you make a decision, so I was really pleased for him too and I think it will do him the world of good ... a lot of confidence out of that.”

The pair are expected to play the remainder of the ODI series against South Africa, and if form persists, Hazlewood could be joining Marsh in the Baggy Green club on December 4 for the first Commonwealth Bank Test at the Gabba.