Marsh's all-round rivals hitting one-day straps

This summer’s Matador BBQs One-Day Cup has bucketloads of future international talent, but there are two players in the allrounder category who are ripe for selection and eager for another crack at the top level.

NSW Blues captain Moises Henriques, one of two incumbent Test allrounders alongside Mitchell Marsh, has been in red-hot form in his two matches to date.

Henriques blasted a career-best 164no against the improving Cricket Australia XI last Friday and backed it up with 56 against Tasmania two days later.

While he’s admitted his recent tour of Sri Lanka with the Australian team didn’t go as he would have liked, the 29-year-old continues to put his name at the forefront of the selectors’ minds.

Henriques isn’t the only dual-threat impressing this tournament, with Victoria’s Marcus Stoinis developing his bowling game to complement his solid record with the bat.

Stoinis has taken five wickets from three games so far in the Matador Cup, including 3-28 opening the bowling today against the CA XI at North Sydney Oval.

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Taking the new ball is an opportunity the right-arm seamer relishes, and he says it’s the area of his game he’s focusing on this summer as he seeks to add to the sole one-day and T20 international caps he won last year in the United Kingdom.

“I’m doing a different job (bowling with the new ball) for the team this year,” Stoinis said. “It’s been good to have responsibility with the ball.

“It’s a good opportunity for me to be exposed under pressure, like the Aussie A stuff, the IPL, the Big Bash, but the more exposure you have that’s where you start learning quicker.

“(My) batting (has) been pretty solid for a while but there’s more room to improve with the ball for sure. It’s a big focus for me.

“If you can contribute more options and most facets of the game than you’re a better chance to get in (to the Australian team).”

While Marsh is currently Australia’s first-choice Test allrounder, comparing his first-class record next to the records of Henriques and Stoinis reveals how close the trio are to one another.

Marsh and Henriques are the most comparable. Marsh (64 games) has played one more first-class match than Henriques (63), has scored the same number of centuries (four each), and has one more half-century (16) than his Test teammate.

However, Henriques pips Marsh in batting average, 31.29 to 30.33.

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In terms of bowling, Marsh just edges the New South Welshman, having captured five more wickets (103 to 98) from one more innings (86 to 85) with a slightly better average (28.01 to 30.27) but a far superior strike rate (50.3 to 59.1).

Throw Stoinis into the mix and it’s clear he hasn’t quite found the consistency of his two chief rivals.

With the bat, the Victorian is considerably more accomplished. He matches Marsh’s tally of four centuries and 16 fifties, but has done so in 46 fewer innings.

His average (38.80) is also much higher than the more experienced pair.

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It’s with the ball Stoinis concedes ground to Marsh and Henriques.

The 27-year-old has taken just 25 wickets in 48 first-class innings at an average touching 50 and a strike rate of 93.4 balls per dismissal.

That could be put down to lack of opportunity, but only to an extent; Henriques averages 68 balls per first-class innings, more than Marsh’s 60 and Stoinis’s 49.

In the same sense, Stoinis has spent plenty of time at the top of the Victorian order whereas the other two have traditionally batted in the middle to lower order.

While Marsh is in South Africa with the Australia 50-over outfit, Henriques and Stoinis will get a chance to pit their dynamic skills against each other when the Blues tackle the Bushrangers in a day-night Matador Cup game at North Sydney Oval on Sunday.

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