Finch heaps praise on ‘underrated’ Marsh

Shaun Marsh may be one of the world's most "underrated" T20 players, but it remains unlikely there'll be a spot for him in Australia's T20 World Cup planning. 

The 36-year-old will make his KFC BBL debut for the Melbourne Renegades on Thursday night when they meet the Sydney Thunder in Geelong, the first time in his 18-year cricket career he has played for a domestic team not Western Australia or the Perth Scorchers. 

He sits 10th on the BBL's all-time leading run-scoring charts, having batted some 30-odd innings less than everyone ahead of him on that list. 

By February, with a full season at the Renegades under his belt, he'll likely be within touching distance of the top three, something club captain Aaron Finch is banking on as the side look to defend their title.

"It's important we let Shaun play his natural game, and not expect anything more than what he's done in the past for Australia and the Scorchers," Finch said.

"He's going to be a key player for us. He's a huge asset to have for us and hopefully someone we can bat around and let him do his thing.

"I honestly think he's the most underrated T20 player in the world. 

"Look at his IPL numbers, in the Big Bash, any time he's played for Australia, his numbers are extraordinary.

"He might go about it slightly differently to some other guys, he generally takes a few more balls at the start of his innings to get going, but once he gets into his innings and faces a few balls he can be unstoppable."

Often the subject of social media opprobrium, much like his brother Mitchell, Shaun brings a formidable reputation in the shortest format and his off-season move from the Perth Scorchers sent shockwaves through the competition. 

Scorchers coach Adam Voges said he was left "heartbroken" by Marsh's decision to head to Melbourne, and it's not just sentimentality for the end of the family's long association with Western Australia cricket. 

Marsh's career T20 record boasts 5,675 runs at an average touching 39 and strike rate of 128.5 across 170 innings in the shortest format around the globe for the past 13 years. 

But between national duties, injuries, opportunities or just by dint of his low-key personality and the way he goes about it, the spotlight on his immense achievements often eludes him. 

Marsh was the leading run-scorer in the first edition of the IPL in 2008 and has 2,477 runs at a strike-rate north of 132 and average of 40 in the competition.

Only Virat Kohli and David Warner have averaged more and worn the IPL's Orange cap. 

Incredibly, but befitting the 'underrated' tag, Marsh went unsold at the past two IPL auctions.

At home, he topped the run-scoring charts in the 2012-13 summer for with 412 runs at 58.85 in nine games during BBL|02, and top-scored in the final for the Scorchers' title wins in BBL|03 and BBL|04.

It's an impressive career resume, but Australia are set to move forward without him in both limited-overs formats after he was this week one of the seven changes in Australia's ODI squad from the World Cup.

Asked if Marsh could still figure in Australia's T20 planning, Finch was non-committal. 

"It's important to remember – like a lot of the batters fighting for the top few spots – there has to be a spot available," Finch said. 

"At the moment in the Australian T20 side there's myself, Dave (Warner) and Steve (Smith), so it's hard to just create positions for people.

"Guys like D'Arcy Short, 'Ferg' (Callum Ferguson) who had a great start (for the Sydney Thunder) and great Big Bash last year, there still has to be a spot for those guys to be picked. 

"It's not just as easy as saying, 'Oh he's in good form he has to play'. Sometimes the spot is just not there. "

On Marsh's axing from the ODI squad, Finch added: "It's unfortunate, he probably got injured at wrong time in the World Cup when he could have come in and had a really big impact for us.

"But at the end of the day having so many good players to choose from is also a real positive for us."