Mitchell Marsh, the Australian all-rounder is known for his power-packed stroke-play. But he has problems to play spin. Australia just finished their first practice match against Sri Lanka Board XI in Colombo. The 24-year-old all-rounder showed his aggressive against the spin duo of Shehan Jayasuriya and Milinda Siriwardana. When he looked set to notch up a substantial score, the Western Australian was priced out by Jayasuriya for 25.
Marsh, who grew up playing at the Western Australian Cricket Association (WACA) ground, said that a batsman needs to work out a proper game plan and stick to it to counter the spinners in the subcontinent.
“I’ve done a lot of work in the nets over the last probably six months playing spin and trying to improve,” Marsh said.
“The biggest thing here in Sri Lanka is, if it is turning, to make sure that you have a game plan and that you stick to it from ball one. It is all about being sharp as you can,” he added.
Marsh played a brilliant 116-ball 87 knock in just his second Test against Pakistan in spin-friendly conditions in Abu Dhabi in 2014. However, the promising all-rounder has struggled for consistency since then, and averages just 23 in the longest format of the game. On his part, Marsh noted that he is trying to employ the sweep shot to negotiate the spinners in Sri Lanka.
It is a stroke that Matthew Hayden, the former Australian opener, used successfully to aggregate 549 runs in the three-match Test series played against India in 2001. “I’ve worked really hard on my sweep shot over the last few months, so hopefully in these Test matches, I’ll be able to get it out, especially if it’s turning,” Marsh said.
“I think it’s a great weapon to have – the ball is generally not going to be turning too much and is going to be missing the stumps. It’s also a great weapon to mess up the bowlers’ lengths and do something different, and also to get off the strike which is probably the most important thing. So, hopefully I’ll be out there long enough to play it,” Marsh added.