A tall allrounder who idolised Steve Waugh and Jacques Kallis, Mitchell Marsh was earmarked for higher honours ever since he captained the Australia Under-19s to victory in the 2010 World Cup in New Zealand. The international call-up came when, at the age of 19, he was picked in Australia's Twenty20 squad to tour South Africa in late 2011. Marsh enjoyed his first taste of state cricket in 2008-09 at the age of 17, which made him the youngest man ever to play in Australia's domestic one-day competition, and Western Australia's youngest debutant for more than 70 years. His debut came a week after made 208 for Fremantle, breaking the club record for the highest score. He announced himself at state level the following summer with a blistering 60 from 29 balls against New South Wales in a one-day match at the WACA. In 2010-11 he made his maiden first-class century, 111 against the Blues at the SCG, and later that year he toured Zimbabwe with Australia A. A powerful middle-order batsman and a seamer who can hit 135kph, Marsh honed his skills in the Australian dressing room as a child, when his father Geoff was the national coach. Marsh was also a promising junior Australian rules footballer and hails from a prolific sporting family - his brother Shaun is also an international batsman and his sister Melissa is a basketballer for Perth Lynx in the WNBL.
Brydon Coverdale