Aussie all-rounder Marsh set for red-ball return, batting spot unclear

Melbourne [Australia], November 30 (ANI): The Australian all-rounder Mitchell Marsh is set for a return to red-ball cricket during the ongoing Sheffield Shield, having been constantly listed as an option for Australia at the top of the order in the ongoing Ashes series.

The veteran all-rounder is all set to feature for Western Australia in their round six clash against Victoria, but his batting spot is not clear.

WA head coach Adam Voges said, as quoted by WWOS, "Where does he fit into our team? He fits in, it is just a matter of where," he told reporters at Perth airport on Sunday.

"Sam Whiteman and Cameron Bancroft's been a solid opening combination for us for a long period of time, so whether we want to break that up or not, we will just work through that," he added.

Marsh, 34, has not featured in red-ball cricket since a poor outing against India in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy back in 2024, having just one score of double-digits, a knock of 47, during the series against India. After a triumphant return to Australian Test whites back in 2023 during the Ashes, striking a century on return, Marsh ended the 2025 calendar year with just 283 runs in 15 innings at an average of 18.60, with two fifties in nine Tests.

In 46 Tests for Australia, Marsh has had mixed outings, scoring 2,083 runs in 80 innings at an average of 28.53, with three centuries, nine fifties and a best score of 181.

In October, ahead of the Ashes series, head coach Andrew McDonald had said that the Aussie team management "has not given up" on the all-rounder as far as Tests is concerned.

"We would be comfortable picking someone, and if you want to put a name to it, Mitch Marsh, out of white ball cricket if we felt like that was going to benefit the Test team," McDonald said in Canberra as quoted by the Sydney Morning Herald.

"We feel he's batting as well as he has for a long period of time. And when he got dropped last summer, I think he was one of our highest averages from his reintroduction during the Ashes 2023. At Headingley, to that point, he was going really well."

"He hit a bit of a flat patch there, and we felt the best at that time to bring Beau Webster in, and we still have not given up on Mitch Marsh's Test career," he concluded.

With Aussies 1-0 up and needing some boost at the top amidst fitness and form concerns of veteran opener Usman Khawaja, Marsh would be a tempting option no doubt, due to his fine white-ball form this year, having made 758 runs in 20 innings at an average of 44.58, with a strike rate of over 118, two centuries and three fifties.

(This content is sourced from a syndicated feed and is published as received. The Tribune assumes no responsibility or liability for its accuracy, completeness, or content.)