Australian National Cricket Team head coach Andrew Macdonald has spoken about Mitchell Marsh’s place in the squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 final. He said it would be unfair to drop versatility based on injury concerns.
Australian National Cricket Team all-rounder Mitchell Marsh has been the biggest disappointment for the team in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. The premier all-rounder has not lived up to expectations and there are plenty of injury concerns surrounding him.
Mitchell Marsh struggled with bat and ball in BGT 2024-25
While Mitchell Marsh struggled to score runs with the bat, he did not bowl much in the series which put extra baggage on the key pacers. The all-rounder scored just 33 in seven innings in the series, leading to many concerns about his fitness.
Mitchell Marsh scored just 73 runs at 10.42 in the ongoing series with a best of 47 coming in Perth. The numbers are quite worrying and with Beau Webster in the squad there are calls to drop him in the last match.
I think it’s a bit unfair to discount this angle – Andrew McDonald drops Mitchell Marsh due to injury
Australia coach Andrew Macdonald has ruled out any injury concerns for Mitchell Marsh. He said that there was not much demand for the ball and therefore he did not bowl much. Although he ruled out talks about the versatile athlete’s dismissal due to injury, he said the following:
“No, no worries. I think people probably read too much into it. We didn’t ask him to bowl as often as we thought. He bowled again today. His pace has gone up to 120s. (kph) There is no no injuries.
“I think it’s a bit unfair to put that angle down. We just haven’t called for it at certain times for whatever reason, so it’s more of a tactical application as opposed to physical. I think there’s too much of it. Bowling throughout the series it will probably be beneficial for us to play,” Andrew McDonald told the press.
In four Test matches, he failed to perform at the level he wanted – Andrew MacDonald on Mitchell Marsh
Andrew McDonald later admitted that Mitchell Marsh was not at his best with the bat, but added that the all-rounder was upset about it. He added that the player is in good shape after the win at the MCG.
“It’s been relatively light throughout the series, so I was expecting both attacks (in the last Test) to be in decent shape to be able to press. So does that mean you need a fifth bowler? I think you still need a fifth bowler, but a fifth bowler is a big you will demand, no.
“Would he like better performances? There’s no doubt about that,” he said. “Over four test matches, he hasn’t performed at the level he wanted and we wanted, but yes, he’s ready. We just won the test match. He’s in pretty good shape.” He concluded.
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