Rod Marsh calls for calmness despite Lankan tour debacle

In spite of Australia’s impressive 4-1 win in the ODI series in Sri Lanka, chief selector Rod Marsh is still battling against those who have given the Aussies a lot of flak for their performance in the Test series, something that saw them lose 3-0. However, the former Aussie wicketkeeper stated that there was no need to panic despite the defeat and the loss of the world number one ranking as well.

Marsh also explained the selection procedure for the Australian side. The trick employed is ‘horses-for-courses’ which in a nutshell is picking players according to their form and not their past records. Marsh, who has played in India a few times in his day went on to add that the Indians wickets are indeed good ones to bat on, on the first day of a Test match.

“The horses-for- courses business, first of all, you’ve got to know the course and we don’t know the course yet,” he said. “Traditionally, pitches in India have been very good to bat on in the first innings. “Traditionally, pitches in India have been very good to bat on in the first innings.

He also went on to add the importance of adapting to different playing conditions across the world. “Good players are good players,” he said. “That’s what we’ve got to remember. They’re usually good players because they can adapt to conditions. We had a bit of a blip here. But we’re not going to panic. There’s no way. We can’t afford to panic because it’s just ridiculous if we do.”

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Finally, speaking of paying with the pink ball, Marsh added that the new dimension was an entirely different ball game as opposed to playing with the red ball. “It is a lot different playing with a white ball and with the field back then when you’ve got people standing on the pitch,” Marsh said. “It’s a different game.”