Smith lauds patient Marsh
Australia skipper Steve Smith lauded the patience of Mitchell Marsh after the allrounder helped his team earn a draw in the fourth Ashes Test.
The match in Melbourne rather fizzled out with the pitch offering little for the bowlers but Marsh still needed to contend with a focused England attacked.
England strangled the runs but Marsh stuck it out making 29 off 166 balls a feat he conceded he would have been unable to achieve twelve months ago.
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Smith said in the post match press conference: “I’m really pleased with him, the way he played.
“Walking off today he actually said, ‘I’m proud of myself – 12 months ago I wouldn’t have been able to do that’.
“He’s come a long way.
“He’s had to change the way he normally plays, he’s normally quite aggressive and very positive.
“To face 160 [166] balls for his (29) was a really good effort.”
Marsh had stressed earlier in the Test that patience would be the key to saving the Test.
Save your legs!
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— cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) December 30, 2017
He said: “On a pitch like this, the game moves a lot slower.
“So as a batsman, you have to be prepared to bat for a long period of time and face a lot of balls to get your runs because the ball is not coming on as well, and there’s a lot of fielders in front of the wicket.”
Marsh has worked on his defensive game during his time away from the Test in a bid to eliminate the poor shots that often cost him his wicket after he had got a start.
The allrounder has done his case for a continued run in the XI no harm with this knock which comes after his big hundred in Perth.
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