Adelaide: Mitchell Marsh will be a late arrival to Adelaide and is likely to play as a specialist batter in the day-night Test, after pulling up with more soreness than expected in Australia’s humbling 295-run defeat to India in Perth.
Back-up all-rounder Beau Webster joined Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney, Steve Smith, Travis Head and Alex Carey in the Adelaide Oval nets on Monday afternoon as Marsh spent more time at home with his newborn baby.
Mitchell Marsh batting during the first Test between Australia and India.Credit: AP
However, after being the only batter other than Head to make a score of any substance in Perth (47 from 67 balls), Marsh’s place in the side may not depend on his capacity to deliver the pink ball under lights from Friday.
Marsh has struggled with an ankle problem for some time, missing part of the 2022-23 summer for surgery, and his pace dropped alarmingly during the Perth Test as he was required to back up for multiple spells.
But he has also been Australia’s best performing batter over the past couple of years, churning out 803 runs at 44.61 in 11 Tests after making a century on his recall to the team at Leeds last year.
Like Josh Hazlewood, who is out of action until at least the Brisbane Test with a side strain, Marsh suffered from the quick turnaround to bowling again after India were bowled out before tea on day one.
Steve Smith bats in the Adelaide Oval nets on Monday.Credit: Getty Images
Adelaide-based seamer Brendan Doggett was the only bowler on show at the optional session, with captain Pat Cummins and other members of the bowling group arriving in South Australia later on Monday afternoon.
Scott Boland is likely to play in place of the injured Hazlewood, with Sean Abbott the other seamer added to an expanded squad. Webster’s presence as a second genuine all-rounder gives selectors the option of lengthening the batting order by selecting him as Hazlewood’s replacement ahead of Boland.
Beau Webster waits to bat.Credit: Getty Images
Head, who fashioned 89 in the final innings of the first Test, admitted he had been processing the likelihood of defeat early in the game, after Jasprit Bumrah destroyed Australia’s batting on a febrile first evening.
“The writing was on the wall pretty quickly in that Test match that we were pushing uphill,” Head told reporters in Adelaide. “So for me I was reflecting in-game on what I could’ve done better and by the time that result had come, 99 times out of 100 that result is going to come.
“So a pretty easy one as such to move on and get over it and start talking about what’s coming, it’s probably the closer losses that hit you by a bit of surprise that take you a few days. But with the way that Test match was playing out, we were pretty much outplayed for most of that Test.
“Pretty easy to realise what we did wrong. … It’s not going to be massive changes, but hopefully with a bit of energy and knowing what’s on the line, we can crack on and play well.”
Echoing the sentiments of Cummins after the game, Head pushed back strongly at any notion of a divide in the team, after number 11 batter Hazlewood’s comments on the penultimate night of the game were interpreted by Fox Cricket commentators as a sign of disharmony between the batting and bowling groups.
“That can be put to bed,” Head said. “I think that is the one thing with ‘body language’ and ‘divides’ and all the stuff that comes out when there is a loss, this team has been together three to four years and when we were winning it was not that much dissimilar.
“The guys get along really well, we hold high expectations of both sides and it is a very individualised sport so batters want to hold our own, we know how good our bowlers have been in the past so we know if we can get runs on the board it puts us in a great position. Definitely no divide.”
Labuschagne was a vocal presence in the nets as he seeks the more proactive mode of batting that the team want from him at number three.
“Knowing Marnus he would have cracked in and worked on a few things,” Head said. “It would have been hard to keep him out of the nets and no doubt over the next few days you will see him working hard again.
“He is a guy who has played well over a long period of time, he would like some more runs but so would everyone.”
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