{"id":318375,"date":"2023-07-23T21:36:01","date_gmt":"2023-07-23T21:36:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=318375"},"modified":"2023-07-23T23:01:19","modified_gmt":"2023-07-23T23:01:19","slug":"selfless-star-shakes-off-reputation-in-coming-of-age","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=318375","title":{"rendered":"'Selfless' star shakes off reputation in coming of age"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rarely in Test cricket<\/a>'s history has a 31 not out held the same level of importance as a second innings century in overcast English conditions.<\/p>\n

In Mitchell Marsh<\/a>'s case, however, it did.<\/p>\n

The West Australian helped scrap Australia out of trouble alongside Marnus Labuschagne<\/a> on days three and four in Manchester, before the local weather had the final say on a result that now sees the Aussies draw the fourth Test and retain the Ashes for a second tour running<\/a>.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> England fumes as Aussies retain the Ashes in rain-soaked Test<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\ufeffREAD MORE:<\/strong> Titmus shatters world record to reclaim freestyle title\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Cowboys find missing piece to premiership puzzle<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Between the obliteration of the English bowling attack at Headingley and his rock-solid defence at Old Trafford, it is clear of late there has been a moment of reckoning within for the all-rounder.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Marsh, who was an unexpected addition to Australia's third Test side in Leeds, has shown the world that he is by no stretch of the imagination a one-trick pony.<\/p>\n

\"Australia's<\/p>\n

In an international career that has comprised of feeling the need to win back the approval of fans from his own country, the middle-order batter has become used to learning on the job and performing under pressure.<\/p>\n

Despite his admirable heart and enormous amount of talent, there aren't many, if any, who can say they truly anticipated the Ashes campaign of Mitchell Marsh so far this English summer.<\/p>\n

Every ball of the Ashes will be live, free and exclusive on<\/strong><\/em> 9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a>, and if you miss any of the action you can find full highlights and exclusive replays after every day's play<\/strong><\/em> here<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

The inevitable takeaway from his tour will be his burst back onto the Test cricket scene at Headingley – a run-a-ball 118 that single-handedly kept Australia in the hunt for an unassailable 3-0 series lead.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a complete contrast to Leeds, but arguably just as important, was his 31 not out off 107 balls that ensured – with the assistance of English weather – England can no longer win the Ashes series.<\/p>\n

It was an innings that required more patience than we've seen from any player – English or Australian – this tour.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Marsh<\/p>\n

Whatever the expectations were of Marsh, the 34-Test player could easily be forgiven for sticking to his aggressive style of play – especially when coming off the back of his iconic knock at Headingley barely a fortnight ago.<\/p>\n

Coming to the crease at 4-85 before lunch on day one at Leeds would make most batters nervous, let alone those who hadn't played a Test for four years.<\/p>\n

Marsh, at least to the naked eye, was not one of those people.<\/p>\n

His performance of 144 runs and two wickets that match would go on to speak for itself.<\/p>\n

Fast forward to late on day three at Old Trafford, and Marsh, known by teammates as 'The Bison' for his imposing figure, is once again brought to the crease with his country in dire straits.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This time, though, it was a little different.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Despite a quickfire 51 in the first innings adding to his rich vein of form, England's dominance in the game meant that the tourists needed to find an alternative method to scoring quick runs that would help prevent a 2-2 scoreline from becoming a reality heading to The Oval.<\/p>\n

\"Late<\/p>\n

In fact the game's momentum had swung so far in England's favour that his job was no longer to take it to the English attack \u2013 it was solely to defend it.<\/p>\n

Selflessly and maturely, he ensured that his partner Labuschagne at the other end had a batter to work with for an extended period of time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In other words, Mitch walked at Old Trafford, so that Marnus could run.<\/p>\n

The self-restraint and control required to change gears so drastically in the middle of a series cannot be under-estimated.\u00a0<\/p>\n

With the exception of Ben Stokes – who seems to do it religiously against Australia \u2013 no other player this tour has shown the ability to play both so aggressively and so defensively with as much success.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The fact that Marsh recognised not just a change in momentum, but then acted on it with such authority, is a sign of how far he's come since his Test debut in Dubai, 2014.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He is the only batter to play English speedster Mark Wood with ease; a sign that he is becoming a class above his peers in some disciplines, despite less playing time than others so far this series.<\/p>\n

So when his application, determination and grit were on show for a defiant 31 not out, it is clear that Labuschagne's efforts to salvage an Australian draw weren't done alone.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In fact, they were done side-by-side, hand-in-hand with Australia's most in-form and matured player right now – Mitchell Marsh.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> clicking here<\/strong><\/em><\/a>!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rarely in Test cricket's history has a 31 not out held the same level of importance as a second innings century in overcast English conditions. […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":318380,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318375"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=318375"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318375\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":318382,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318375\/revisions\/318382"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/318380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=318375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=318375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=318375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}