Australia
all-rounder
Mitchell Marsh
expressed his lack of interest in opening the innings in
Test cricket
following the retirement of
David Warner
after the ongoing series against Pakistan.
Marsh, typically positioned higher in the order in white-ball formats, affirmed his preference to maintain his batting position at No. 6 in Test cricket.
"How do I answer this without making a headline? For me I appreciate there's talk about it (him opening) and eventually we're going to need a new opener with Davey (Warner) leaving.
"But I've worked really hard to get back in this side and for me to look forward to having a role as an opener just doesn't make sense to me," Marsh was quoted as saying by 'The Age' newspaper.
"I love being at number six and in my last four Test matches I've really found my way and I guess who I am as a Test cricketer and I'm loving it, so I'm reluctant to change that."
Marsh played a counter-attacking innings of 90 off 107 balls, contributing to Australia's total of 487 in their first innings, complementing Warner's 164.
Emphasizing the advantage of batting at No. 6, Marsh mentioned that it enables him to embrace an aggressive style of cricket, as opposed to the more conventional patient and prolonged approach required in Test cricket innings.
"I think I showed glimpses of the way I played in the last 12 months throughout my career, but probably never really believed in that method.
"I tried to play the long innings and play like Steve Smith and Davey and Uzzy (Usman Khawaja) and all those guys who can bat for six hours," he said.
The 32-year-old expressed gratitude towards his captain, Pat Cummins, and head coach, Andrew McDonald, for granting him the freedom to play according to his natural style.
"But I just wanted to come into this Test team and be really true to myself. I'm thankful to Patty (Cummins) and Ronnie (McDonald) for helping me get to this point where I've found my method that works," Marsh said.
"I don't necessarily have the technique of Smudger (Smith) and Marnus (Labuschagne) where they can defend and leave for hours and get through those periods."
Marsh expressed his enjoyment in putting pressure on the opposition through his dynamic and aggressive batting style.
"I can put pressure back onto teams and the beauty of batting at six is if we bat well, you get some tired bowlers to try to counterattack and keep the game moving.
"Hopefully, I can stay nice and consistent," he added.
(With PTI inputs)
English (US) ·