Gifted athletes are special not only because they produce results others can only dream of, but also because some of them tend to be given special consideration when it comes to their performance appraisal.
Take the case of Shaun Marsh. The Australian left-handed batsman made his eighth comeback to the Australian team since his debut in 2011 during the ongoing Ashes. He was selected ahead of Glenn Maxwell – a hard-hitting lower order batsman, handy spinner and exceptional fielder.
Marsh, however, was selected not because of a deluge of runs on the domestic circuit but on word of mouth. His returns in first-class cricket before his selection for the Ashes was decent – 236 runs from six innings at an average of 39.33 for Western Australia. But WA coach Justin Langer insisted Marsh is in the form of his life and ready for another shot at the highest level.
Marsh, 34, knew the spotlight was on him as he had kept a talented player like Maxwell out of the Ashes squad. Maxwell has never played a Test in Australia, all seven of his games coming in Asian conditions. During the 2-1 series defeat in India earlier in the year, Maxwell scored a fine century in the drawn Ranchi Test. In his last Test, Maxwell scored 63 runs against Bangladesh in a match the Aussies won by seven wickets.
@shaunmarsh9 I have been one of your toughest & hardest critics.. but today.. you have played beautifully! From now on...Never a bad word from me! #respect #💯👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
— Dean Jones (@ProfDeano) December 3, 2017
But it was Marsh who was given the nod and full marks to him for grabbing the chance with both hands. His fifty in the first Ashes Test and masterful century in the second was as much a relief for the player as it was for those who vouched for him.
Marsh is well and truly on top of his game right now and looks to have sealed his spot at No6. In both Tests, he scored runs with the hosts on the back foot and England’s bowlers a strike or two away from taking control of the match. And say what you may, to thump a world-class quick like Stuart Broad for two fours and a six down the ground in four balls takes a special talent.
The Australian selectors went more on promise picking him ahead of Maxwell and it is a shot in the arm for those who look beyond just the numbers.
It’s a shame that Maxwell isn’t given similar leeway. After the all-rounder scored 278 for Victoria last week in the Sheffield Shield, his coach Andrew McDonald said the challenge for Maxwell now was to back it up with another big knock.
Maxwell has never played a Test on home soil, scored a century in India and fell short of a first-class triple century last week. Yet it is he who has to put more pressure on the selectors through the weight of his runs and not Marsh, who has never scored a first-class double century.
If there is something called the X factor, Marsh has it in abundance and he showed in Adelaide why players, former and current, across Australia are desperate to see him on the field.
DISASTER IN DELHI
The capital of India is in the midst of a prolonged health crisis and it came to the fore during the second day’s play in the Delhi Test.
At least four Sri Lankan players suffered bouts of vomiting as they fielded at the Feroz Shah Kotla while some were given oxygen after they complained of breathlessness in the highly polluted Delhi air.
The national capital is one of the most polluted cities in the world with numbers reaching toxic levels last month – 40 times the level deemed safe by the World Health Organisation.
If anyone is thinking or suggesting that @chandi_17 and his team was trying to avoid playing, using the pollution factor, then its only laughable & should be condemned. @OfficialSLC Is made of better stuff!
— Roshan Abeysinghe (@RoshanCricket) December 3, 2017
Sporting events in Delhi during the winter months have been under the scanner for some time. During the FIFA U17 World Cup in India in October, pollution levels in Delhi were a major issue, with organisers even considering pulling the tournament out of the city at one stage.
Sponsors of the successful Delhi Half Marathon have threatened to pull the plug on the event next year if the air quality issue isn’t addressed soon.
It has taken the Sri Lankan team’s drastic situation to put the critical issue where it simply can’t be ignored – in the spotlight during a Test where India’s darling Virat Kohli scored a double century.
The hosts might not be on the same page as the Sri Lankans as they were more than keen on playing, but the fact remains it is a matter of shame for a sporting hub to be seen as an unworthy host.
The BCCI believes the issue has been blown out of proportion. “If 20,000 people in the stands did not have problem and the Ind-ian team did not face any issue, I wonder why Sri Lanka made a big fuss?,” acting BCCI president CK Khanna said. With such an attitude, nothing is going to change.
