Didn’t Larry Gomes roll his arm over occasionally?
Fact is S Marsh in his last 5 or so Tests has failed to make the distance twice. And had another injury in between there too.
So if you’re worrying about guys breaking down, you should look at the facts, not the rubbish the selectors pass off as reasoning.
I can’t remember a game in the last 2 years where Starc or Hazlewood broke down.
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Yes. But if we’re going along with the premise they had a full time spinner, and didn’t use part time spin…
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Why can’t we play Jackson Bird or Leo? Bird offers as much with the bat as Marsh and is obviously a better bowler
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It’s weird that I can recall the West Indian line-up better than the Australian one of that era.
They were a very settled team, I guess.
Heck, I remember Gus Logie who was 12th man most of the time.
Although I’m sure if I checked i’d find he had quite a good career.
Edit: This is nice.
Did not bat, did not bowl, did win Man of the Match
Pakistan v West Indies, Sharjah, 1986
Courtney Walsh took four wickets as West Indies bowled Pakistan out for 143 in Sharjah, but the Man-of-the-Match adjudicators decided the biggest contribution had come from Gus Logie in the field. He took three catches and effected two run-outs, including that of the dangerous Javed Miandad. West Indies’ top three knocked the runs off, so Logie put his feet up till he collected his award.
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The facts are that Australia has had a real problem with fast-bowlers breaking down with long-term injuries in the recent past. Pattinson, Coulter-Nile and Cummins are three that come to mind and the WA quick Behrendorf is also on the sidelines at the moment.
Starc left India early after injuring himself in the second Test. He played on though.
But, I’ll say it again, it’s not necessarily about the game they’re currently involved in, it’s about their longevity and not flogging them when there is so much cricket played nowadays.
Was the when he hit his leg on a training stump? Or the ankle injury?
Think they went something like 12 test matches he thought losing a wicket in the second innings
Ambrose
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1-3 (SFAF Bacchus, ), 2-5 (DL Haynes, ), 3-6 (CEH Croft, ), 4-10 (IVA Richards, )
Foot injury. It’s slso why he didn’t tour Bangladesh.
But he couldn’t have been injured - Mitch Marsh played that match, he even bowled five (five!!) whole overs.
Almost like that doesn’t work.
I’ll say this, and leave it.
If there was a plan, or policy, to manage all the overs that Starc, Cummins and Hazlewood bowl: that would be one thing. There clearly is no such thinking - nor should there be, at least not in the Ashes. (ODI tri-series against Togo and Ireland, sure, manage away.)
We know this is not the case, because when we have picked MMarsh (or Maxwell, or Cartwright), they tend to bowl maybe 5 or 10 overs an innings. It’s hard to see that making much difference to anybody’s loads - two overs a day, each, when spread across the 4 actual bowlers.
So I can’t accept that he’s genuinely valued as a bowler- although I certainly think he’s a better bowler than bat.
I don’t think they really know what they want with that spot, and I don’t think they really know what type of player MMarsh ends up as: but they hope whatever he is, fills whatever hole they (and very few others) can see.
Right now he is a nippy, but green & unreliable bowler, and a powerful, but green & unreliable bat.
M Marsh is the sort of guy we laughed at the poms for picking regularly in the 90’s. Not good enough to be picked as a batsman or a bowler.
Will never make it in test cricket imo.
We’d be better off picking a fair dinkum bowler who can bat a bit or a batsman who can bowl a bit.
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The problem I see with picking either marsh is, as of yet neither have shown a sustained temperament for test cricket.
as others have said yeah both have suffered through periods where the team would collapse around them, but you don’t look at either and go, well they have a good chance of changing the flow in that situation.
David warner has been a blessing and a curse because he was the pioneer player to go from 20/20 slogger come test opener, and the selectors have been stuck in a loop ever since thinking anyone who shows decent form or “looks good batting” in the case of s marsh in 20 20 can automatically just transition into a decent test player.
2020 and one dayers are a totally different skill set, and just cos you can look good in one or 2, doesn’t mean you are suited to test cricket.
IMO you can’t carry 3 players like that. warner being the other, however obviously warner picks himself and you contiually take the gamble with him cos he can blow a game open in a session.
but the other 2, i don’t think you can continually run the risk of having players who merely look good for 20/50 overs, esp with you have to go through 450overs for a test.
If M Marsh plays I will be sad. The reason is we clearly aren’t picking our best XI. I’m sure the selectors won’t give a fark but he doesn’t deserve a spot.
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Walsh, Marshall, Garner, Patterson and Holding were all genuine fast bowlers, but they
weren’t all playing at the same time.
At first you had two: Hall & Griffiths. Then Roberts & Holding. Then they got the fast bowling quartet idea and added in Garner & Croft. They certainly were four quicks.
Then along came Malcolm Marshall, the greatest fast bowler I’ve ever seen. Yes, greater than Lillee, even. Only a little bloke, but the way he made the ball skid off the turf was unbelievable. I’ve never anything like it. I saw him lead the attack against the Poms at The Oval in August 1988. Magic.
Along with Marshall were Winston Benjamin, Curtley Ambrose and Courtney Walsh, who was really a fast-medium.
Benjamin didn’t last that long, why I don’t know. There were also Pat Patterson and also Ian Bishop. It got so there were Marshall, Walsh and Ambrose and whatever 4th quick or fast-medium was doing okay at the time.
Roger Harper is the spinner I remember, though there were others. Then later there was Phil Simmons, a genuine medium pace bowler who was mainly a batsman. He opened at times IIRC.
I’ll never forget that match at the Oval, sitting in the outer, among the Windies supporters, and barracking with them for the WI. At first they weren’t happy about me, but as soon as they realised I was an Australian, not a Pom, they were great company.
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Hi Dean Jones hi.
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If that is really the case (which it isn’t) then the world has only ever seen 2 or 3 fast bowlers. The Windies continuously has 4 bowlers I would discribe as fast from 84 (my first Cricket memories) until 92/93.