World Cup: Mitchell Marsh set to return to the top of the order for Australia

Brisbane, Sep 29 (AP) A month ago Mitch Marsh thought he may have to return down the order to create room for others in Australia's preferred starting lineup at the Cricket World Cup despite his recent success batting at the top of the innings.

The man who once joked that everyone in Australia hated him because he hadn't made the most of his chances at international level now appears to be the go-to option as an opener.

With Travis Head expected to miss at least the first half of the Oct. 5-Nov. 19 World Cup because of a fractured right hand, and with Steve Smith returning from injury to bat at No. 3, the best direction for Marsh to go is up.

And if the big, burly allrounder can form an opening partnership with veteran David Warner like he did with Head in Australia's series win in India in March, it gives the five-time champions serious firepower to start their innings.

Australia captain Pat Cummins all but confirmed the two would open to start the World Cup following his side's 66-run consolation win over India in the final game of a three-game series this week. India won the first two matches.

“Potentially Trav Head won't be ready for the start of the tournament,” Cummins said when asked who might open the batting in Australia's first match against India on Oct. 8. “But I think the way him (Marsh) and Davey (Warner) started today, it looks like a pretty dangerous combination." Marsh's 84-ball 96 in the third match with three sixes and 13 fours had earlier helped Australia rectify its batting issues and fellow opener Warner (56 in 34) also scored his third successive half-century.

A recent white-ball tour to South Africa, where Marsh led an injury-depleted team to a Twenty20 series sweep and a 2-0 lead in the ODI format before losing three consecutive one-dayers, hasn't dented his confidence.

“I certainly thought we started the series well. Played some really good cricket, go back to the T20 series we played some really good cricket as well,” Marsh said. “There's plenty of positives to take.” The Australians had a lot of experience to recall ahead of losing the first two matches — and the three-match series — against India, with Cummins, strike left-arm paceman Mitchell Starc, former skipper Smith and allrounder Glenn Maxwell returning from injuries.

Coach Andrew McDonald said Marsh “did an incredible job” covering for Cummins and without so many regular starters.

“We had a lot of moving parts — multiple changes each game with some injuries and making sure we're prepped as well as we can be for the World Cup,” McDonald said.

Marsh will be relying for success again on his uncomplicated approach to batting in all forms of cricket. That is: see the ball, hit the ball — a long, long way.

It's been working so far in his career resurgence, which gained traction with his player of the final performance when he batted at No. 3 in Australia's first ever Twenty20 World Cup title in 2021. It worked again in his recall to test cricket in July after four years when he posted a run-a-ball 118 — batting at a conventional No. 6 — during the Ashes in England.

And it worked for him the last time Australia was playing white-ball cricket in India, where he averaged 97 at a strike rate well over 125 and hit a dozen sixes across three innings in his experimental rise from the middle order to replace the retired opener Aaron Finch.

Marsh was voted player of the series when Australia rallied for that 2-1 victory, scoring 81 from 65 balls, an unbeaten 66 off 36 deliveries and a run-a-ball 47.

Warner missed the first two games of that earlier series and, when he returned for the deciding third game, he was forced to bat below Marsh because selectors didn't want to break the team's momentum.

Marsh has earned himself another chance to shine after a lengthy career that started with promise in 2011 for the son of Geoff Marsh — who won the 1987 World Cup in India as a player and the 1999 World Cup in England as a coach — but threatened to derail because of injuries and inconsistency.

His only three World Cup games have netted 31 runs and five wickets — all five wickets and 23 runs on debut against England in 2015, when Australia won the title on home soil.

After his winning hand in Australia's T20 title two years ago, a 2019 video of Marsh's candid comments about his on-again, off-again status with the national team's supporters went viral. Since then, the reception has been mostly good.

With Australia likely to rely heavily on allrounders and rotate fast bowlers like Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Sean Abbott in the sub-continental conditions, Marnus Labuschagne will help bolster the struggling middle-order.

Labuschagne was added to the squad late this week when team officials said Ashton Agar had not recovered from a calf injury. Head was also confirmed in the final 15-man squad at the same time.

“He's made a significant shift in intent at the crease,” McDonald said after the series in South Africa, where Labuschagne was recalled amid a string on injuries to other players. “We know Marnus is a quality player. He's come in and he's taken that opportunity." (AP) ATK ATK