Mitchell Marsh to retire from Sheffield Shield after this season

Mitchell Marsh will retire from the Sheffield Shield at the end of this season, meaning in all likelihood he has played his final first-class match for Western Australia, but has left the door ajar to add to his 46 Test caps.

Marsh made a rare Shield appearance for WA last week against Victoria at the MCG where he scored 4 and 9. But his involvement in the T20 World Cup, where he will captain Australia through February and the start of March, will overlap with the resumption of the competition after the BBL, then he will be part of the IPL with Lucknow Super Giants.

"It has been an honour to play Sheffield Shield cricket for WA," Marsh, who made his Shield debut as an 18-year-old said in a statement. "Right now I am deeply committed to the group and the [Perth] Scorchers. Playing for WA has been a huge part of my life and I plan to give back in any way possible long into the future."

Marsh was an outside chance of featuring in the Ashes if there had been injuries or loss of form, particularly if things had started badly for Australia, on the back of an impressive run of performances in recent ODI and T20I series with the selectors valuing his skills against pace bowling.

The final part of the WACA statement said: "The Australian white-ball captain remains open to the prospect of playing Test cricket."

Australia coach Andrew McDonald has previously said they would be willing to pick Marsh for Tests without him playing red-ball cricket.

"We would be comfortable picking someone, and if you want to put a name to it, Mitch Marsh, out of white-ball cricket, if we felt like that was going to benefit the Test team," he said before the Ashes. "He's the captain of the white-ball team. It's very hard for him to vacate [that] and balance out Test preparation, if he was to be in the window for that. We still haven't given up on Mitch Marsh's Test career."

Having been out of Test cricket for four years, Marsh made an outstanding return during the 2023 Ashes when he scored a century in his comeback match at Headingley and went on to average 46.87 in a 10-game stretch, during which he won the Allan Border Medal.

However, he lost form during last summer's series against India and was dropped for the final match at the SCG. His bowling has also taken a backseat as he manages his body.

In the Sheffield Shield for WA, Marsh has scored 2744 runs at 29.50 and claimed 82 wickets at 29.48.

"Mitch embodies everything about what it means to be a Sheffield Shield player for Western Australia," WA head coach Adam Voges said. "From playing alongside him to coaching him in more recent times, he's given his all for his state.

"It's been a privilege to watch him progress from Sheffield Shield to being a very successful player at international level for Australia. He's an outstanding character on and off the field and it's been a pleasure to play a part in his journey."

Marsh is currently only full-time captain of Australia's T20I side, but has led the ODI team in their last two series against South Africa and India since the Champions Trophy in the absence of Pat Cummins.