"Cameron Green is the incumbent"- Jason Gillespie feels Mitchell Marsh might still miss the next Ashes Test despite century in Headingley
Former Australian pacer Jason Gillespie feels Australia might drop Mitchell Marsh for the fourth Ashes Test if all-rounder Cameron Green regains fitness. Marsh got the opportunity in Headingley because of Green's strain and made the most of it, smashing an incredible hundred.
However, Gillespie reckons that if the visitors decide to bring 24-year-old Green back into the XI and if only one of him and 31-year-old Marsh can play, then the youngster is likely to get the nod.
In his column for the Daily Mail on Sunday, here's what Jason Gillespie wrote about the Mitchell Marsh-Cameron Green conundrum for Australia:
"Mitchell Marsh scoring that brilliant century in the first innings at Headingley will have given the selectors a lot of food for thought. But Cameron Green is the incumbent. If he is fit and they only go with one of them, I think the likelihood is that Green will slot straight back in."
Gillespie believes Marsh was able to play the impactful knock in the first innings because of the clarity that he had about having nothing to lose. He added:
"He knows he is Green’s understudy and that his chances of playing Test cricket depend on Green’s availability. So, he has absolutely nothing to lose when he goes out to bat. He can just see ball and hit ball, and I have always said Mitch is at his best when he plays with that sort of clarity. When he hits them, they stay hit. In that hundred, he played some of the best shots of this series."
Jason Gillespie on Mitchell Marsh living up to his potential
Mitchell Marsh has been around for a while and has always been touted to have the potential to become one of the best all-rounders in the world. However, he wasn't able to hit those straps early on.
Jason Gillespie is delighted that Marsh was able to deliver when his team needed it the most, saying:
"He famously said in 2019 that ‘most of Australia hate me’ and I know what he was getting at. The Australian public got a bit frustrated with his output. They felt he flattered to deceive, getting starts and never going on with it."
"He threatened to do great things but never quite did. But he certainly didn’t disgrace himself and maybe the expectation of the public was too great. I think the public have definitely shown more patience with Cameron," he added.
It will be quite interesting to see if the Aussies could find out a way to play both Marsh and Green in the next Ashes Test.