Mitchell Marsh Earns Baggy Green Cap, Continues Father's Legacy
Mitchell Marsh became the 438th player to represent Australia in Tests. Father Geoff Marsh is now only the third Test cricketer to have his two sons play cricket at the highest level.
Mitchell Marsh followed in the footsteps of his father Geoff and brother Shaun when he made his Test debut against Pakistan on Wednesday in Dubai. Geoff now joins Walter Hadlee of New Zealand and India's Lala Amarnath as the only Test players to have two sons play in the same format.
Mitchell was excited ahead of the game against Pakistan and could not hide his anticipation of how much it would mean to wear the Baggy Green cap.
"Like every cricketer says I guess, it would be a dream come true," Marsh said in an interview to cricket.com.au. "Something that every young cricketer aspires to do is play cricket for Australia, especially Test cricket, and it's something I'd be very excited about if I get the opportunity." Older sibling - Shaun - had made his debut against Sri Lanka in Pallekele in 2011. Father Geoff had played 50 Tests between 1985 and 1992 scoring 2854 runs. He had presented Shaun with his Test cap in Sri Lanka after Ricky Ponting had to fly home for the birth of his second daughter. On Wednesday, Geoff got a chance to hand the Test cap to Mitchell as well.
Mitchell Marsh had a decent outing on his first day in whites, bowling 11 overs giving away 18 runs for no wicket. What will be a huge motivating factor is the fact that Aussie skipper Michael Clarke backs him. Clarke feels that Marsh has the talent to do well in all formats if given the chance and produce into a fine all-rounder.
"If conditions are conducive to playing that all-rounder, I'm sure Mitch will do fantastic," he had said recently.
The Marsh family though is not the only 'team' with a rich cricket legacy and fantastic abilities.
Walter Hadlee represented New Zealand 11 times in Test cricket between 1937 and 1951. When his son Dayle was picked to play in 1969, he famously said,"They got the wrong hadlee."
Those words would ring true after Richard Hadlee burst on the scene in 1973 and went on to become a legend of the game with 431 wickets in 86 Tests.
The Indians too have seen the rare feat of father and two sons representing the team.
Lala Amarnath started his career with a century on debut. He led India in 15 out of 24 Tests from 1933 to 1952. His son Surinder also scored a century on debut against New Zealand in 1976 and went on to play 10 Tests. Surinder's brother Mohinder played for 19 years after making his debut in 1969 and was the hero of India's 1983 World Cup win.