- Location
- London
Was probably the first of the modern idiom of “batsmen who can keep a bit” when he was first picked for Australia, hence his original nickname of “Irongloves”. He obviously rectified this weakness over the years and was the only wicketkeeper for Australia for pretty much my entire youth. I certainly remember him as a bit patchy as a batsman, but when he had his day it was spectacular. Brendon McCullum would be the closest thing in modern day cricket for those who didn’t see Marsh play, although Gilchrist might have been both technically and stylistically closer, being a back foot square of the wicket counter-attacking left-hander….
I think, more importantly he was (along with Dennis Lillee, Ian Chappell and Max Walker) the soul of the Australian team of that era. The team in the late sixties and early seventies wasn’t as strong as some earlier iterations and those four were responsible for bringing about a revolution in the way that the team played. They were combative, aggressive in style (occasionally too much so for many tastes) and played and drank hard. It’s certainly possible to argue that they sowed the seeds for some of the pretty unsavoury stuff that followed, but the idea of the “larriken Aussie cricketer” was a very popular one at home at the time.
Probably just as important as anything that Marsh did on the field was his role as mentor for young elite players (he was pivotal in setting up and running the Australian Cricket Academy) and seemingly revered by all those who came into contact with him. He was the “corporate memory” of modern Australian cricket and those shoes are always difficult to fill. RIP.
I think, more importantly he was (along with Dennis Lillee, Ian Chappell and Max Walker) the soul of the Australian team of that era. The team in the late sixties and early seventies wasn’t as strong as some earlier iterations and those four were responsible for bringing about a revolution in the way that the team played. They were combative, aggressive in style (occasionally too much so for many tastes) and played and drank hard. It’s certainly possible to argue that they sowed the seeds for some of the pretty unsavoury stuff that followed, but the idea of the “larriken Aussie cricketer” was a very popular one at home at the time.
Probably just as important as anything that Marsh did on the field was his role as mentor for young elite players (he was pivotal in setting up and running the Australian Cricket Academy) and seemingly revered by all those who came into contact with him. He was the “corporate memory” of modern Australian cricket and those shoes are always difficult to fill. RIP.
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