Shaun Marsh in danger of being dropped, feels former Australian great Mike Hussey

Former cricketer Mike Hussey believes Australia will probably have to consider dropping Shaun Marsh for the Test series at home this summer after yet another failure in the UAE. The senior left-hander managed to score just 14 runs in four appearances during the two-Test series against Pakistan. Marsh has now gone for 12 innings without having got a half-century.

Since smashing two hundreds and two fifties in a breakthrough Ashes campaign last summer, he has averaged a paltry 13 in six Tests. His former teammate Hussey thinks Marsh’s position will come under scrutiny as the selectors pick a squad ahead of the all-important four-match Test series against India in December.

Speaking to Wisden Mr Cricket said, “At the end of the day, you do need to be scoring runs. There’s going to be a lot of discussion about his place in the team. Once you start getting into your 30s, mid-30s, you can’t afford to have a run like that. Because everyone starts talking about your position in the team – is that the end of your career? – and that extra pressure builds up on you as well.”

Juggling up and down in the order

Because Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft have been suspended and Usman Khawaja has been asked to open the innings, Marsh has gone from batting at no.5 to coming in at no.3 during the Pakistan series. Furthermore, he was forced to open the innings as Khawaja himself suffered a meniscal tear but didn’t last long as he was bowled by a magnificent delivery from Pakistan debutant Mir Hamza, handing the left-armer his maiden Test wicket.

Marsh has been averaging a meagre 3.5 in this series, but remarkably this isn’t rock bottom for the batsman. The lowest average of his career in a single series was 2.42 during India’s four-Test series against Australia in 2011-12.

The left-hander has on far too many occasions been dismissed just moments after he’s arrived at the crease. This has grown to be a major problem in Marsh’s career: 25 of his 59 dismissals in Tests – more than 42 per cent – have been single-figure scores. However, once he goes past 10, he averages 60.

“When he’s on song, he’s just unstoppable and looks a supreme batsman. But then when he does start having a run of low scores, he gets into this hole and he finds it extremely difficult to work his way out of it. It must be very frustrating for him,” Hussey concluded.

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