the slide

Recently much has been made of Australia’s slide.

Most of this is because of Stuart MacGill’s new found ability not to land his leg break.

Also Mitchell Johnson and his line 3 foot wide of off stump.

Plus their sick reliance on Matthew Hayden.

And let us not forget Michael Clarke’s dodgy form in pressure situations.

I wrote this recently, and this, ages ago.

But, in how many countries would a player like Shaun Marsh not be good enough to be picked in their top 8 batsmen.

And realistically, David Hussey would still be ahead of him on the list, so Marsh may not even be in Australia’s top 9 batsman.

We the people, all know this is rubbish, and that he should be currently preparing to open for Australia ahead of the krab katich.

Or at least be carrying the drinks and trying some rum instead of Brad Hodge.

But it does show the amazing depth that Australia still has, even without the champions at the top.

Shane Watson is probably the best performed player in the IPL, if Marsh isn’t, and he is not in Australia’s one day squad.

Both David Hussey and Luke Pomersbach have been less dominant than Marsh and Watson, but they have both payed innings that have showed they belong.

You may ask where are the young Australian bowlers.

Well Brett Geeves got spanked every time he got a gig.

And almost every other young Australian bowler is a physical basket case, but Peter Sizzle (Siddle), and Douggie Bollinger take wickets on one leg.

But Marsh still stands out. Not just because of the runs he has made, or the strike rate he has maintained, but because he hasn’t slogged.

He has kept his technique, and he has batted like a serious batsman type batsman, which means he may turn out to be a real player on the international circuit.

Want more than IPL proof, well the English sports writers are already worried about him for the Ashes.

Ok the English are always worried about the Ashes, but in Marsh, they have just cause.

And by 2013 Shaun’s little brother Mitchell will be in England, probably batting at number 3.

Cricket With Balls, monitoring the demise of Australia one MacGill long hop at a time.www.cricketwithballs.com

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