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Marsh to play Sydney grade cricket

Injured allrounder set to turn out for Western Suburbs as specialist batsman

Western Australian allrounder Mitchell Marsh will play Sydney First Grade cricket as a specialist batsman this weekend as he continues to recover from injury.

The 23-year-old injured his hamstring during the second Commonwealth Bank Test against India at the Gabba, and suffered a further setback while running during the Boxing Day Test.

However, Marsh was seen in full flight prior to the first Carlton Mid ODI Tri-Series match in Sydney. 

Marsh will turn out for Western Suburbs, the same grade club of Michael Clarke and Mitchell Starc, in a bid to gain some valuable game time ahead of the looming ICC Cricket World Cup.

The right-hander was placed in a ballot to determine which club he would turn out for on Saturday, with 17 of the 20 clubs expressing their interest.

Australia could well do with the services of Marsh after captain George Bailey was today suspended from Friday’s one-day match in Hobart for maintaining a slow over-rate in yesterday’s tense four-wicket win in Melbourne.

Bailey will miss one match, and with Marsh and Michael Clarke ruled out through injury, the National Selection Panel will need to nominate a replacement batsman, along with a new captain.

Bupa Support Team head coach Darren Lehmann commented on Clarke’s progress today, saying: "Probably a little bit too early to tell. We'd love him to play some warm-up games if he could.

"We're guided by the surgeon and the medical staff there. The pleasing thing is he's back in the nets batting and he can ramp it up a little bit this week again.”

And should Clarke and Australia make it to the World Cup quarter-finals, they will enjoy home field advantage.

The International Cricket Council today announced the allocation for the quarter-finals for the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand starting on February 14.

Should the co-hosts reach the quarters, Australia would play at the Adelaide Oval, while New Zealand in Wellington.

The same rule would be applied if they made it to the semi-final stage, but if the two teams were set to meet, the team that finished higher in Group A after the group stage would play host.