Marsh called up for Australia A duty

A neck injury to Brad Hodge has given Shaun Marsh, the son of the former Australia opener and coach Geoff Marsh, a promotion into the Australia A squad for the Top End Series. Hodge will return to Melbourne after he suffered the problem batting in Darwin while Marsh will be flown in for the side's four-day match against India A in Cairns starting on Tuesday.

Marsh was picked in the Australia A squad for two matches against Zimbabwe in 2003-04, and last summer he posted five Pura Cup half-centuries and averaged almost 50 in the ING Cup. "Shaun is a talented young player who we have been monitoring closely for a long time," the selector David Boon said.

"He has previous experience at Australia A level and has been performing extremely well at the recent emerging players tournament in Brisbane. We are excited at the prospect of seeing him perform against some quality opposition."

The Australia A squad arrived in Cairns on Sunday for the game against India A at the Bundaberg Rum Stadium. Australia A were beaten by India A in a one-day match on July 8 and drew with Pakistan in a four-day contest last week.

Australia A squad Phil Jaques, Chris Rogers, Travis Birt, Mark Cosgrove, Shaun Marsh, Shane Watson, Brad Haddin (capt, wk), Mitchell Johnson, Shaun Tait, Cullen Bailey, Daniel Cullen, Brett Dorey.