Mitchell Marsh is ready to take up better role in the Australian team

There is a huge void in Australian cricket after the previous ‘leadership group’ was involved in a ball-tampering scandal and as a result, sacked. Steve Smith and David Warner haven’t been around since March this year and Australia are yet to find a more prominent captain in Test and ODI cricket. Tim Paine took up that role immediately to be the stop-gap but they also have to appoint a vice-captain.

Allrounder Mitchell Marsh who has been one of their most prominent players across formats has staked his claim as Paine’s deputy. He was appointed the captain of the Western Australia team last season and will lead the Australia A side on the tour of India in September this year. However, Marsh agreed that he doesn’t carry a lot of leadership experience under his belt but the kind of situation the team is in, it is the best opportunity for them to try out the youngsters.

Still a young leader

“I’m still young when it comes to my leadership … but where we’re at at the moment, there’s going to be a few young leaders,” Marsh told cricket.com.au.

“Captaining the Australia A series in India, I don’t see it as a dress rehearsal for me, but I see it as a great opportunity to captain in those conditions,” he added.

The 26-year-old has captained the domestic side at home and there he had to develop his plans around pace. When on the tour of India, he will have to involve the spinners in his strategy, getting them in the attack, the right kind of bowlers and this will be a different challenge.

India tour a different opportunity

“I’ve captained in Australia and at the WACA, where … fast bowlers are used a lot more, so they’re different conditions. So this is an opportunity to work on my captaincy around spin, setting fields around the bat and those sort of things.

“I’ll work as much with the spinners and learn as much as I can so I can be the best captain I can be for WA and be the best leader I can be in Australian cricket,” Marsh added.

In his international career, the right-hander has played 28 Tests and 53 ODIs, his returns with both bat and ball is pretty promising. Marsh has scored 1170 and 1428 runs in Test and ODI cricket respectively coupled with 33 and 44 wickets in each format.

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