Mitchell Marsh says Australia A squad are hungry for success in India

Australia

Australia A skipper and Baggy Green Allrounder Mitchell Marsh says that the four-day squad are eager to make the most of the opportunity to impress the selectors.

Marsh has recovered from the injury that kept him from making the trip to England for the ODI series earlier this year and wants to ensure that he cements his place in the Test XI to face Pakistan.

Speaking from Bangalore Marsh said: “There’s a great vibe around this group.

“You get a real sense everyone is really hungry to perform.

“There’s plenty of opportunities in Australian cricket at the moment and I think as a team we’ve got a real focus that we want to win this little mini-series and hopefully start something special as a group.”

Marsh feels that as the senior player he has a responsibility to ensure the team culture that Justin Langer wants to foster in the Test outfit is mirrored in the A squad.

He added: “Being an Australia A series, a lot of time you can solely focus on yourself and wanting to score runs, but ultimately we want to create a culture in that team certainly that we want to come here and play to win.

“I’m the captain of this team and I’ll be doing my best to make sure that happens.

“For me, I obviously want to spend some time in the middle with the bat but we want to come here and win and win for Australia.”

Marsh has targeted the second four-day match for his return to bowling but feels he is close to being at full-tilt.

He said: “I’m back pretty much blowing full-tilt now.

“Hopefully I’ll bowl a few overs in the second four-day game here.

“It’s all progressed really well. I’ve had no setbacks throughout the whole injury process so I’m really rapt.”

Marsh says that he doesn’t have designs on the Australia captaincy but he is one of the players being considered as a long-term option but team management.

“I’ve had a little bit of experience captaining Western Australia back home,” he said. “It’s not something I tend to think about too deeply.

“If the opportunity arose I’d grab it with both hands but ultimately that’s out of my hands at the moment and I’ll just be the best captain I can be here.

“I’m really looking forward to captaining in these conditions, which is something I don’t experience much playing at the WACA every second week and in Australia.

“It’s going to be a whole new experience for me and something I’m really looking forward to.”

Australia A Tour of India

Australia A four-day squad: Mitchell Marsh (c), Alex Carey (vc), Ashton Agar, Brendan Doggett, Peter Handscomb, Travis Head, Jon Holland, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Michael Neser, Joel Paris, Kurtis Patterson, Matthew Renshaw, Mitch Swepson, Chris Tremain

Four-day fixtures in Bengaluru

2-5 September v India A

8-11 September v India A

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