Mitchell Marsh to be dropped for SCG Test? Australia coach reveals fitness update

Australia National Cricket Team head coach Andrew McDonald talked about Mitchell Marsh's place in the team for the final game of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. He said that it would be unfair to drop the all-rounder based on the injury concerns.

Australia National Cricket Team all-rounder Mitchell Marsh has been the biggest disappointment for the team in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. The premier all-rounder hasn't lived up to the expectations, and there have been a lot of injury concerns surrounding him as well.

Mitchell Marsh has struggled with bat and ball in BGT 2024-25

While Mitchell Marsh has struggled to score runs with the bat, he also hasn't bowled much in the series, which has put extra baggage on the main pacers. The all-rounder has bowled just 33 overs across seven innings in the series, which has raised a lot of concerns about his fitness as well.

Mitchell Marsh has scored just 73 runs at 10.42 in the ongoing series with the best of 47, which came in Perth. The numbers are quite bothering and with Beau Webster in the team, there have been calls to drop him for the last match.

I think to sort of head that down that angle is a little bit unfair - Andrew McDonald on dropping Mitchell Marsh due to injury

Australia head coach Andrew McDonald, however, ruled out any injury concerns for Mitchell Marsh. He said that there hasn't been much requirement with the ball from him, and hence, he hasn't bowled much. While ruling out the talks related to the all-rounder getting dropped due to injury, he said:

"No, there's no concern. And I think people have probably been reading too much into that. We haven't required him with the ball as often as we would have thought. He bowled again today. His speeds are up in the high 120s [kph]. There are no injury concerns there.

"I think to sort of head that down that angle is a little bit unfair. We just haven't required him at certain times for whatever reason, so that's more a tactical implementation, as opposed to a body. I think the amount of overs that we've bowling across the series is probably going to be to a benefit to us," Andrew McDonald told the press.

Over four Test matches, he hasn't been able to deliver at the level that he would like - Andrew McDonald on Mitchell Marsh

Andrew McDonald further admitted that Mitchell Marsh hasn't been at his best with the bat but added that the all-rounder himself is upset about it. He added that the player is in good head space after the win at MCG.

"Across the entirety of the series, it's been relatively light, so I'd expect both attacks to be in decent shape to be able to press [in the final Test]. So does that mean you need a fifth bowler? I think you still need a fifth bowler. But are you going to put a huge demand on the fifth bowler, potentially not."

"Would he like better performances? There's no doubt about that," he said. "Over four Test matches, he hasn't been able to deliver at the level that he would like and we would like, but yeah he's up and about. We just won a Test match. He's in a pretty good headspace." He concluded.

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