Mitchell Marsh will drop to No. 3 when Travis Head is back

Australia
Head had been out with a hand injury, but seems likely to play against Netherlands on Wednesday, having even progressed to practicing range-hitting (six-hitting), on Tuesday. Now, Marsh will drop down one spot, and Marnus Labuschagne will likely exit the XI.

“I mentioned to David Warner, maybe he can bat three, but I got a firm no from him,” Marsh joked on the eve of the match. “But yeah, very happy to go back down to three. I’ve obviously batted there a lot over the last couple of years, so I feel really comfortable at three. And if and when Heady comes back in, I think that’s the best position for me to play for this team.”

Marsh’s numbers at first-drop are not especially impressive, though: he averages 22.25 after 12 innings there. This is compared to his average of 60.55 when opening, though that figure was greatly boosted by his having hit a career-best 121 off 108 on Friday.

He has had a fruitful 2023, however, averaging 45.92 across 14 innings to make himself a fixture in Australia’s ODI line-up. Marsh said there were no major technical changes that spurred this growth – only hard work.

“Not a whole lot’s changed [with my game],” Marsh said. “I’ve just probably not given up on the fact that I was striving for something and kept working hard through periods of time that were tougher than others.

“In the last couple of years, I feel as I’ve been as consistent as I have been, which was something that I was always striving for. I guess all the best players in the world that you look up to, and certainly in our team, they’re so consistent. And that’s what I have been.”

Australia lost their two first games in the tournament, but have now won two in a row. On the surface, their next opposition would appear to be the softest they might face in the league stage. But Marsh said Australia were taking nothing for granted against a team that’s beaten South Africa.

“There’s absolutely no easy games. And you go into every game having done all the appropriate homework and hopefully you can come out with a win,” he said. “So, tomorrow is no different for us. We respect the Netherlands; they’re playing some good cricket and that will be a tough challenge.”

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