Former Australian skipper Ian Chappell feels that Mitchell Marsh will have to take up the opportunity to play as the batter in the team to retain his spot in the Australian team. The All-rounder played the final three games of the series scoring over 250 runs at an average close to 50 in the Ashes series.
Mitchell Marsh made it into the Australian XI at Headingley as Green wasn’t fully fit and smashed a sensational hundred which helped him to retain his place in the team for the final three games and going forward it would be tough for the Australian team to play both Cameron Green and Mitchell Marsh in the playing 11.
However former Australian cricketer Ian Chappel wants Mitchell Marsh to play as a batter in the test team as he can try to take up the opportunity with the bat opening the innings alongside Usman Khawaja after the retirement of David Warner in 2024 as the all-rounder can be aggressive opening the batting at the top.
“The opportunity is now there for Marsh to gain a spot in the team as a batter. That’s something he’d have to convince the selectors of, Unless Marsh can make his way as a batter in the top order it’s going to be difficult for the selectors to pick two all-rounders.
“A lot of it will be up to Marsh and where he sees the opportunity to get into the team. If he sees it as an opener, because he does seem to want to play aggressively, maybe he decides Khawaja needs an aggressive opener with him,” Ian Chappell said.
David Warner had announced that his final appearance for Australia in white will come in the Sydney Test against Pakistan in 2024 on Australian soil and the Baggy Greens will be looking for a opener to replace him at the top of the order.
Mitchell Marsh Would Have To Open The Batting For Western Australia – Ian Chappell
Ian Chappell feels that Mitchell Marsh needs to open the batting for his domestic team Western Australian to make his case strong in the Australian team and reckons that the Australian all-rounders need to step in and say he wants to open the batting for Western Australia in the Shield Cup.
“Having said that, he would have to open the batting for Western Australia (first). He would have to do it as he comes back to Australia (for the Shield season), there’s no good waiting until Warner retires”.
“He would have to say to them now, ‘I want to open’, and then it’s a matter of whether Western Australia decides they want to open with him,” Ian Chappell added.
Mitchell Marsh would be a tempting choice for the Australian team as he has shown the ability to bat at the top order for Australia in the white-ball format and has been in fine form for the Aussies in the last two years and would be a crucial player for Pat Cummins-led side in the ODI World Cup later this year.