Timely Marsh ton eases selector angst

It was difficult to nominate which was the most easily foreseeable element of the final day of the JLT Sheffield Shield match that ended at the Adelaide Oval today.

Whether it was Shaun Marsh's flawlessly unbeaten 163 that carried Western Australia to victory and eased at least some angst among the national selectors, or the predictable doubts publicly heaped upon his Test credentials that immediately preceded it.

In this instance, it was former Test fast bowler Geoff Lawson – a regular Australia teammate of Marsh's father, Geoff, during the 1980s – who weighed into the perennial debate over the left-hander's international tenure, and that of younger brother, Mitchell.

Lawson described them as "perpetual disappointment(s)" in urging the national selection panel it was time to "move on" from naming the Marsh brothers in Australia's Test line-up.

With timing vastly more canny than Lawson's mid-match assessment, Shaun Marsh duly completed not only his second century in as many appearances (following his ODI hundred against South Africa in Hobart), but one of the more emphatic of his 17-year first-class career.

The 35-year-old survived 264 deliveries on days three and four, and rarely produced a false stroke in posting his third-highest Shield score, which lifted his average in the domestic first-class competition this summer to 120.

A welcome bottom-line for selectors who remain bereft of certainties to fill the top six batting positions for the opening Test against India that begins, also at the Adelaide Oval, on December 6.

"It felt good, I've felt good the last few weeks now," Marsh said today after leading WA to a comfortable four-wicket win having successfully chased South Australia's target of 313.

"I've felt like I've been hitting the ball well and it was nice to come back and do well in the first Shield game I played (against Tasmania last month).

"I'm not too sure when they're picking the team (and) I'm not too sure what they're going to do, I've just got to continue to score runs and we'll see what happens over the next few weeks.

"It's out of my control, and I haven't been thinking about it at all over the last couple of weeks.

"I just wanted to play well in the one-dayers and play well for WA, and honestly that's been my thought process the whole way along.

"So we'll see that happens over the next week or so.

"I just want to keep playing with that freedom that I wanted to do when I got back from overseas (Australia's Qantas Tour of the UAE), and it seems to be working well."

Marsh's innings won plaudits from West End Redbacks captain Travis Head, who could only admire the aplomb with which the WA left-hander stoutly defended when SA's seam attack threatened, before cashing in as the rival bowlers tired and erred.

Which might also prove instructive for Australia's selectors, given his innings represented the third time in as many Shield matches at the Adelaide Oval – where preparation on the Test pitch continued this afternoon – that bowlers have found wickets tough to come by on the final day.

As Head noted post-match, the Adelaide pitch's transformation to a seamer's deck means batting is most challenging in the first 30 overs, when the ball is hard and the quicks forever threaten.

In each of the first three innings of this Shield encounter, the batting teams lost a clatter of early wickets only to be rescued by their respective middle-lower order batters who were comfortable against the older, softer ball.

It means that, come next month's Test match, it's likely to be the team able to make the deepest inroads while the ball is hard and shiny that will effectively drive the game.

"The ball, as it gets softer, between 30 to 80 overs, it's definitely good to bat," Head said this after the game.

"And on day four, when the bowlers have got overs in them – when they're tired and they haven't got as much ball speed as they had on day one and two – I think that makes the wicket look a little bit flatter, but it's been the same throughout the whole game.

"I think it still spun as well.

"Obviously Popey (rookie leg spinner Lloyd Pope) didn't bowl as well as he would have liked today, but I think it offers enough.

"The ball actually reversed for us in the second innings, so it brought spin and reverse.

"I think it's a good wicket."

Marsh, who scored an unbeaten century in his previous Test at Adelaide Oval during last year's Ashes campaign, was non-committal on whether India's seamers or spinners might prove hardest to handle on the drop-in pitch.

Which will sport less grass than the past three Tests at the redeveloped ground, all of which were day-night fixtures that required the wicket to carry some extra 'cushioning' for the pink ball.

Marsh made special mention of SA's swing bowler Daniel Worrall who finished the game with 10 wickets, but noted there was sufficient encouragement for all bowlers throughout the four days to suggest batting won't be as straightforward as it was at Adelaide in his father's time. Or that of Lawson.

"Over the last four days, especially the first couple of days, you never felt in," Shaun Marsh said.

"If you got the ball in the right areas there was a little bit of nip there, but you felt like you could score if the ball was in your area.

"There was a little bit (spin), Pope was turning a little bit and Heady (off-spinner Travis Head) was turning the odd one.

"I thought it was a really good cricket wicket." 

India Tour of Australia 2018-19

Gillette T20s v India

First T20: November 21, the Gabba

Second T20: November 23, MCG

Third T20: November 25, SCG

Domain Tests v India

First Test: December 6-10, Adelaide Oval

Second Test: December 14-18, Perth Stadium

Third Test: December 26-30, MCG

Fourth Test: January 3-7, SCG

Gillette ODI Series v India

First ODI: January 12, SCG (D/N)

Second ODI: January 15, Adelaide Oval (D/N)

Third ODI: January 18, MCG (D/N)