Michael Vaughan ‘surprised’ after Mitchell Marsh didn’t get Ashes call-up

Former England captain Michael Vaughan was a tad bemused after Mitchell Marsh didn’t get called up for the first two Ashes Tests. On Wednesday, November 17, Cricket Australia named a 15-member squad for the matches and gave Usman Khawaja, who hasn’t played a Test for more than two years, a call-back.

Marsh, who has featured in 32 Tests for Australia, couldn’t find a way back into the squad. He was in excellent form in the T20 World Cup 2021, playing some useful knocks while batting at No.3. In the final against New Zealand on Sunday, he got the Player of the Match award for his brilliant half-century. His knock helped Australia win their maiden T20 World Cup title.

Vaughan reckoned that keeping in mind his stupendous form, Marsh should have been included in the squad. The veteran took to Twitter and wrote, “Really surprised Mitch Marsh isn’t included … !!”

Michael Vaughan’s tweet

Really surprised Mitch Marsh isn’t included … !! https://t.co/YG9smQ7mev

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) November 17, 2021

Marsh, however, has been picked in the Australia A 11-man team with all the players set to take part in an intra-squad game before the Ashes starts. Marsh hasn’t played a Test match since the 2019 Ashes in England. After his Test debut back in 2014, he has scored 1260 runs and picked up 42 wickets in his career.

Australia Test squad

Tim Paine (C), Pat Cummins (VC), Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner

Australia A players:

Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Henry Hunt, Josh Inglis, Nic Maddinson, Mitchell Marsh, Matt Renshaw, Mark Steketee, Bryce Street

The Ashes is set to get underway on Wednesday, December 8 with the first Test at the Gabba in Brisbane. The second Test starts on Thursday, December 16 at the Adelaide Oval. Melbourne, Sydney and Perth are the hosts for the remaining three Tests of the five-match series.

The Aussies must be high on confidence after winning the T20 World Cup and they’ll like to carry the momentum into the longer format as well. Tim Paine has a massive task at hand as far as leading the Aussies is concerned.