Mitchell Marsh confident of filling in James Faulkner's shoes

Mitchell Marsh

Melbourne, Feb 9 - Australian all-rounder Mitchell Marsh, on Monday, said he is "pretty confident" of filling in for the injured James Faulkner, who is expected to not be fit until the side's third World Cup match against co-hosts New Zealand on February 28.

Faulkner suffered a side strain on February 1. The team's medical staff has not given a firm estimate of his expected recovery time. It is expected that the left-arm seamer will miss both the February 14 opener against England and the February 21 match against Bangladesh.

In that case, the 23-year-old will have the responsibility of doubling up as the four-time world champions' second ace all-rounder after Shane Watson.

"I'm pretty confident, I'd obviously like to fill that role. It's going to be fun and if I get a bit of an opportunity hopefully I can take it," Marsh was quoted as saying by news.com.au.

Marsh picked up figures of none for 38 from the six overs he bowled and scored 21 runs against India in their warm-up game in Adelaide, which the home side clinched by 106 runs on Sunday.

Marsh further added that he will continue to keep working at his death bowling.

"Obviously I'd like to keep working on my death bowling and keep being an option at the death. I think that's really important to have as many options as we can and for me. It's just about improving all facets so I'm really looking forward to that and hopefully I can just keep progressing," he said.

"Losing James (Faulkner) means one of the all-rounders have to bowl a few more overs. So, I'm hoping that's me but I guess that's up to the selectors."