It’s a dangerous game to offer even the lightest criticism towards Mitchell Marsh at the moment – especially after his latest rescue act to pull Australia out of a serious jam in the second innings at the MCG. The affable Western Australian’s popularity has come full circle since he was infamously booed during the Boxing Day Test of 2018 – and his equally well-known remark that ‘most of Australia hate me’ during a press conference in 2019 – to the point where he is now by some distance the most liked cricketer in Australia. The reason for the collective public attitude shift? Simple – Marsh is now delivering on the years of red-ball promise and become an outstanding, match-turning batter in the middle order (his heroics in Australia’s T20I and ODI World Cup triumphs in the last two years haven’t hurt either). It’s hard to dislike a bloke who rescues Australia in the middle of the Ashes with a spectacular century like he did on Day 1 at Edgbaston, and ever since, the runs haven’t stopped flowing for the man they call ‘Bison’. All the same, I can’t help feeling there has been a serious narrative change regarding the 32-year old in the last six months; one that portrays any criticism of Marsh over the years as being unwarranted, harsh and above all, horribly misguided. Proving this point perfectly was Kerry O’Keeffe on Fox Cricket midway through Day 3. “I’ve rarely seen an Australian cricketer so poorly treated by the man in the street as Mitch Marsh has been treated over the years,” O’Keeffe said. “Just that negativity about him… everybody was convinced that he was the most overrated player in the country. When he was selected, he was resented by the man in the street, and it’s taken them his whole career to convince them I’m the real deal.” Mitchell Marsh celebrates with Travis Head after reaching his century. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images) I went to Cricinfo straight after hearing O’Keeffe’s spiel to double-check: since Marsh was recalled for the Headingley Test, he has averaged 67.5 and passed 50 five times in ten innings, rescuing Australia three times (in Leeds, at the MCG and with an unbeaten 31 to secure an Ashes-retaining draw in Manchester). In the process, he has lifted his career average to a mighty 31.03. It sat at 25.2 when he walked out to bat on that first morning in Leeds. Marsh simply wasn’t harshly treated, or spoken about overwhelmingly negatively, or mistakenly labelled ‘the most overrated player in the country’, as O’Keeffe claimed. More Cricket COMMENT: Can we please stop rewriting history about Mitch Marsh just because everyone loves him now? Marsh rescues Aussies – but misses out on ton – as Pakistan take fight to hosts despite horror drop Why Warner could put franchise cricket above Aussie duty, Perth mayor’s crowd solution, another nightmare drop stuns Australia vs Pakistan: 2nd Test, Day 3 as it happened – Smith falls on stroke of stumps to give tourists a sniff Record-breaking extent of Aussie World Cup win revealed – including how many watched epic India choke Cricket My recollection is that the majority of the criticism being directed at Marsh back in the day was in bemusement that a player with such a poor average – before returning with two centuries against a battered England in the 2017/18 Ashes, his career mean of 21.74 made him statistically the worst number six in Test match history – was being given the sort of run in the team that a player like Glenn Maxwell could only dream of. You know – the sort of criticism any ordinary performer at the highest level has always been subjected to. The kind of criticism Marcus Harris receives these days for his poor Test batting average, and which has many reacting to David Warner’s call for him to return to the XI in coming matches with scorn and derision. You also couldn’t dismiss the accusations of nepotism against himself and brother Shaun completely out of hand – like the prevailing theory about Carlton’s Jack Silvagni, many felt then it was unlikely that pair would have played so many Tests for such mediocre returns had they not been earmarked for greatness their entire lives as the ‘sons of Swampy’, former Australian opener Geoff Marsh. Booing Mitchell Marsh, or indeed anyone, for poor performance was below the belt by the MCG crowd five years ago. But feeling frustrated at a man averaging 25.4 with the bat after 31 Tests and barely bowling being given – and blowing – chance after chance at the top level over other…
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