After the end of day one of the fifth test of the Ashes, the WA all-rounder quoted that, “most of Australia hates me. Australians are very passionate, they love their cricket, they want people to do well. There’s no doubt I've had a lot of opportunity at Test level and I haven't quite nailed it. But hopefully they can respect me for the fact I keep coming back and I love playing for Australia, I love the baggy green cap and I'll keep trying and hopefully I'll win them over one day."
When I saw him for the first time in the international scene, I thought Australia really needed to stick with persisting to just give him that time and develop a genuine all-rounder. The world cricket community has masters like Ben stokes and Shakib al-Hasan but still, we need more all-rounders who have a good hand in both batting and bowling. I had always seen that Mitchell Marsh's strength was his bowling and as we saw last night he was just incredible, he was really the one to swing the ball and even got a bit of reverse there. He picked up 5 for 46 and was the tightest of all the bowlers. Cummins, Hazelwood, and Sidle were all a bit overshadowed and unlike their experience they proved expensive but Mitchell Marsh really stood out and I hope Australia to give him more chance and build him as the genuine all-rounder.
He bowled an inspired spell at The Oval and this for sure had put an end to his year of hell and presented Australia with a golden opportunity to take control of the fifth Ashes Test. Marsh was called in ahead of the vice-captain Travis Head for the fifth Test at The Oval. Mitch Marsh last test appearance against India saw him booed by the MCG crowd, this turned those jeers into cheers after finishing with career-best figures. The boxing day test defeat was the beginning of a hard run for the 27-year-old Marsh that saw him lose the Vice Captaincy, his place in Australia's team and central contract in April. Injuries and lack of form hit him hard but last night he'd bowled the spell he had been waiting for all his life.
"Marsh is an outstanding player", Ponting quoted after the end of day one. Marsh who has spent the whole series on the side-lines on 12th Man duties was surprised to get the call-up and was determined to make the most of this opportunity. Getting the first wicket as Ben stokes, it gave him a massive boost and he basically played the role Peter Sidle should have done.
Real positive for Australia was the performance from Mitchell Marsh coming back into the team picking up 5 wickets. He swung the ball and set the batsmen up with the ones darting back and attacking the stumps. Another angle of celebration for Australia came from the wrong decision of Tim Paine who won the toss and elected to field first. Everyone was surprised by the decision, even though England negotiated well for the first half an hour which brought them to a comfortable position of real strength 3 for about 170, but this position changed dramatically. England was brought under the pressure by Australia in spite of poor fielding, dropped catches and missed a review. England sort of gave back the advantage to Australia and lost a whole bunch of wickets altogether.
