Marsh boys finally set for backyard Test

Given they’ve played just four Tests together in more than two years, Shaun Marsh was beginning to wonder if he might have missed his chance to appear alongside his younger brother Mitchell in a Test match at their spiritual home in Perth.

Especially now that the WACA Ground, where the brothers spent so much of their childhood watching their dad Geoff ply his profession for state and country, is set to become a boutique cricket venue when the big-ticket matches shift across the Swan River to the soon-to-be-completed Perth Stadium.

But the dream of the siblings lining up alongside one another in their auxiliary backyard with Baggy Green Caps affixed and Advance Australia Fair filling the air will be finally realised on Thursday morning.

Before a crowd dotted with Marsh family members and friends, to formally kick off a summer that looms as pivotal in the playing careers of 33-year-old Shaun and his 25-year-old bro.

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“It’s pretty special,” Shaun said today as he prepared for his latest role as a Test opener alongside David Warner when the first Commonwealth Bank Test against South Africa starts on Thursday.

“We haven’t spoken about it too much but I’m sure that come Thursday when we’re walking out to sing the national anthem together it will be pretty special. 

“I’m really excited to get the opportunity to play another Test match at my home ground, with Mitch and Vogesy (fellow Western Australian Adam Voges) as well.” 

Geoff Marsh was at the WACA as the Australians trained this morning, in his current role as assistant coach with the Alcohol. Think Again Western Warriors having coached Australia to the 1999 World Cup following the end of his 50-Test playing career.

An aggregate that his sons look set to top collectively if not individually, with both Marsh boys lining up for their 19th Test appearance come Thursday.

Having played countless other unofficial Tests on the family tennis court when they were growing up, matches that Shaun would invariably dominate given his seniority.

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Whether they will enjoy the chance to bat together, as has happened only once in the four Tests they’ve shared (in the second innings of last year’s historic day-night Test against New Zealand at the Adelaide Oval), will depend largely on Shaun’s ability to withstand South Africa’s highly rated pace attack.

On a Perth wicket that bears no resemblance to the pacy, bouncy surface on which Geoff Marsh cut his teeth in the 1980s and his sons became so used to seeing as they took time out from their boyhood cricket games on the WACA’s grass banks.

Or watched on from the exclusive sanctuary of the home team dressing room.

“The wicket last week (for the Sheffield Shield match against South Australia) was good for both bat and ball,” said Shaun of his most recent hit-out at the WACA in which he scored 73 and 110 opening the batting.

“If you got the ball in the right areas it still did a bit.

“We all know here that if you do miss your lengths it’s a good place to bat as well, you can score freely so hopefully there’s a bit more pace and bounce in the wicket from last week.

"I'm sure it will be a nice wicket.”

The fact that their dad averaged a tick over 36 in his four Tests at the WACA (with a highest score of 63no in his final appearance at the ground in the 1991 Ashes Test) means that the opportunity to become the first in the family to post a Test ton at home remains alive. 

Shaun’s sole previous Test at the WACA yielded just 11 runs in his one turn at bat against India in 2011, and Mitchell’s only Test at home was last year’s run fest against New Zealand that offered little but heartbreak and blisters for pace bowlers.

As a consequence, he scored 34 in his first Test innings at the WACA having waited more than a day to go to the wicket when the team score was a hefty 4-462 with a brief to score quickly, and pocketed 1-83 from his 18 overs across both innings.

But the pursuit of personal milestones and family bragging rights will take a back seat on Thursday morning when the brothers link arms during the teams’ anthems and add another significant chapter to a family history steeped in cricket success.

“It’s a really special place here at the WACA for me, I love playing here and I’m just going to enjoy that come Thursday and the other days of the Test match,” Shaun said today.

“Just being able to play in front of your family and your home fans, in a place where you’ve grown up playing basically all your cricket.

“You don’t often get a chance to play in front of your home fans too much so I’m just going out there to have fun.

“And it’s great to be able to have all the family here as well.”