Geoff Marsh thrilled with family legacy

Former Australia Test batsman Geoff Marsh handed his son Mitchell his Test cap on Wednesday in Dubai, joining a rare group of Test dads to have two sons in the business, and he was pleased as punch.

Marsh Sr. presented Mitchell with his cap ahead of the first Test against Pakistan, while he had also given other son Shaun a cap in 2011 in Sri Lanka. Shaun Marsh has since played nine Tests.

Marsh the elder said of being only the third Test player to have two sons follow him: “It’s a bit of an honour to have that, but I guess we’re just lucky.

“I’m pleased for both my boys. They followed me around while I was playing Test cricket and coaching Australia.

“Deep down you could see it in their eyes they wanted to follow in those footsteps and now they’ve both been given that opportunity.

“Hopefully there’s a lot of cricket left in them.”

With Michael Clarke tipping Mitch to be a future Test skipper, Marsh Sr. warned against getting ahead of themselves: “It’s nice to hear the Australian captain say things like that.

“I said to Mitch you’ve just got to take every day in Test cricket one day at a time.

“Test cricket puts out a lot of challenges, you’ve got to meet those challenges and you only do that through good focus and concentration and working hard.

“He’s got to get through a lot of hurdles. He’s only young, hopefully he can just perform well and consistent and see what happens after that.”

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