Axeing, ailment bring Marsh some good

The dual spectres that most regularly haunt professional cricketers visited Mitchell Marsh in recent months, and have helped him chart a path back to the cusp of a Test career that threatened to remain unfulfilled.

First, it was the ignominy of omission when – in the wake of Australia’s humbling at the hands of South Africa last November – he was dumped from the team, and then the squad after 13 consecutive Test matches stretching back more than a year.

Quick Single: Spinners attacked after Marsh fires

Then, as the 25-year-old took stock of his game and tried to map out a road back to redemption though the vehicle of the VB One-Day International series against Pakistan, he was hobbled by injury.

An ailment to his right shoulder which meant the powerful seam-bowling allrounder was left with no option but to work on just one of his twin disciplines, with the goal of the four-match Qantas Tour of India his newly burning ambition.

It was during those regular sessions with bat, but not ball in hand that Marsh worked diligently to add subtlety to the sledgehammer that has been the calling card of his lower-order hitting since he made his Test debut in the UAE two and a half years ago.

But which had not developed as hoped after he got to within a couple of trademark lusty blows of a century in his debut series, and had dwindled to an average of 23.18 and just two scores of 50 or more from 31 times at bat in Tests by the time the selection axe fell.

A shortcoming that Marsh believes he has taken great strides toward correcting during his convalescence and exclusion, an assessment not diminished by his atypically patient innings of 75 from 159 balls faced in today’s tour match against India A in Mumbai.

Quick Single: Australia to retain bowling status quo

“I've certainly batted more than ever over the past few weeks (since suffering the shoulder injury), just trying to get better and trying to learn as much as I can,” Marsh said at the end of a day in which he also opened the bowling and finished with a tidy 0-26 from nine overs.

“You never want to get injured but it was nice to get a couple of weeks off, I'm feeling really strong at the moment so hopefully the body can hold up.

“Probably the biggest thing for me has just been softening my hands, in my defence and also in my attack as well.

“The later you hit the ball, the easier it is to hit gaps especially in the subcontinent when it's turning.

"That's just something I've learned since I debuted in the UAE and Sri Lanka (last year), and now here, playing in the IPL and facing spinners all the time.

“Hopefully if I get a chance in the big dance (the Test series starting in Pune next Thursday) I can implement it.”

Like his teammates who endured a lamentable 0-3 Test drubbing at the hands of Sri Lanka on spin-friendly pitches last year, Marsh has been assigned some homework ahead of what is tipped to be an even tougher challenge.

The world’s top-ranked Test team, India, who have gone undefeated at home in the game’s elite form for 19 consecutive Test matches stretching back to December 2012.

That group homework was to draft, implement and perfect a game plan that would enable survival and prosperity against the threats of spin, as well as conventional and reverse swing, on dry, bare Asian pitches.

The sort that contrast sharply to the grassy, seam friendly strip upon which the Australians are currently preparing in Mumbai.

The fact that Marsh, albeit in the face of some less-than-threatening part-time spin and below-express seam bowling, batted for a longer period (200 minutes) and faced more balls (159) than any of his previous Test innings across 19 matches would indicate that blueprint has merit.

Of greater contextual significance was the manner in which he negotiated that period, defending solidly, rotating the strike with deftly placed singles and looking to ease the ball into gaps rather than muscle it beyond the rope.

Which he allowed himself to do just once, a towering six over long-on that struck the very top of the grandstand roof at the historic ground’s northern end and rebounded almost all the way back to the centre wicket.

His only lapse coming when he slapped an inviting full delivery from left-arm spinner Shabhaz Nadeem – the sole specialist spinner employed by India A across 127 overs – waist high to the fielder who was set deep at mid-off.

Quick Single: India A batsman spurred by verbals

“I've been working on some game plans over the last couple of months really for this tour, and it was nice to spend some time out in the middle working on those,” Marsh said before being quizzed further on what those plans entailed.

"Probably against the spin, just my defence really. 

“If you have a solid defence, you can attack the balls that are there to attack and really back your defence. 

“That's something I've learnt, playing in the subcontinent a couple of times now through my own experiences.

“I think I've just faced a lot more spin over the time, and I've learned that rotating the strike is really important, especially in the sub-continent for getting off strike.

“That's just something that my game is adapting to and hopefully I can keep getting better at it.”

Test Squads

India (for first two Tests): Virat Kohli (c), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravichandaran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Karun Nair, Jayant Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Abhinav Mukund, Hardik Pandya.

Australia: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Ashton Agar, Jackson Bird, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Stephen O'Keefe, Matthew Renshaw, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade

Australia's schedule in India

Feb 17-19, Tour match v India A, Mumbai

Feb 23-27, First Test, Pune

Mar 4-8, Second Test, Bengaluru

Mar 16-20, Third Test, Ranchi

Mar 25-29, Fourth Test, Dharamsala