No injury concerns for Marsh, his limited overs related to match situation, says McDonald

Melbourne, Dec 31 (IANS) Australia head coach Andrew McDonald brushed aside any fitness concerns for all-rounder Mitchell Marsh despite his limited overs in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against India. Australia.

McDonald linked Marsh’s limited time with the ball to match situation rather than fitness issue.

“No, there’s no concern. And I think people have probably been reading too much into that. We haven’t required him with the ball as often as what we would have thought. He bowled again today. His speeds are up in the high 120s (kmph). There are no injury concerns there,” McDonald said after the memorable victory at the MCG.

“I think to sort of head that down that angle is a little bit unfair. We just haven’t required him at certain times for whatever reason, so that’s more a tactical implementation, as opposed to a body. I think the amount of overs that we’ve bowling across the series is probably going to be a benefit to us,” he added.

With front-line pacer Mitchell Starc’s fitness under cloud, pacers Jhye Richardson and Sean Abbott are in Australia’s squad to fill that spot for the Sydney Test.

However, Australia skipper Pat Cummins and McDonald were confident of Starc’s availability for the series finale.

“Across the entirety of the series, it’s been relatively light, so I’d expect both attacks to be in decent shape to be able to press (in the final Test). So does that mean you need a fifth bowler? I think you still need a fifth bowler. But are you going to put a huge demand on the fifth bowler, potentially not,” McDonald said.

Marsh’s struggles with the bat have been magnified by his limited contributions this series. The reigning Allan Border Medallist, who was Australia’s standout Test batter last season with match-winning half-centuries in four of six victories against Pakistan, the West Indies, and New Zealand, has managed just 73 runs at an average of 10.42. Notably, 47 of those runs came in a second innings in Perth when the match was already out of reach.

In comparison, Nathan McSweeney, who was dropped for the fourth Test, scored 72 runs at an average of 14.40.

Despite a tough series and a history of self-doubt, coach McDonald expressed confidence in Marsh’s current mindset.

“Would he like better performances? There’s no doubt about that,’ he said. “Over four Test matches, he hasn’t been able to deliver at the level that he would like and we would like, but yeah he’s up and about. We just won a Test match. He’s in a pretty good headspace.”

Australia released Richardson to play a BBL match for the Perth Scorchers in Adelaide on New Year’s eve. He will rejoin the squad on Wednesday, and despite his history of injuries, coach McDonald expressed confidence in his readiness to play if required.

“Very confident. He’s here for a reason. So if we weren’t confident, he wouldn’t be here. He’s had a heavy week with us in the nets. All indications are he’d be capable of bowling 40-plus overs if he was called upon,” he said.

“Sean Abbott’s there as well. We feel like, (the) SCG is his home ground, so he will be serviceable if called upon as well. It’ll be about assessing our frontline quicks and then making decisions from there,” the coach added.

–IANS

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