Mitchell Marsh's bitter tears wiped away

A little less than three years ago, Mitchell Marsh walked out to the middle of Centurion Park in Pretoria, sat down on the pitch and cried. He had just been suspended following a 21st birthday dinner that spiralled out beyond the original plans, and his place in the Perth Scorchers team had been taken away.

It was a low point, not only for Marsh but for Western Australian cricket, as the state team's troubled culture took a toll on the players but also the support staff. Within weeks the coach Lachlan Stevens and the captain Marcus North would both be out of their jobs, while Marsh was left to ponder his future.

Looking back, Marsh tells ESPNcricinfo that his tears were not those of a player questioning where he was headed, but of a young man angry at the circumstances in which he had been disciplined - 14 of the squad's 15 players were out that night. From that day in South Africa, Marsh commenced a slow but steady upward march into better behaviour. His state team did too, and both will be rewarded when Marsh walks out to play for Australia in the Investec Ashes Test at Lord's.

"I was certainly very upset," Marsh recalls. "It wasn't in a sense of 'where's my career at', it was more out of disappointment at the way that situation was handled, and it's obviously something that I look back on and certainly regret, but I was certainly upset at the way it was handled. Looking back now, it feels like such a long time ago, and I've certainly come a long way as a person and a cricketer since then. It's more a distant memory now."

Marsh had always been a confident young man, more outgoing than his quieter older brother, Shaun. He was once touted as a future Australian football prospect, something unsurprising when his tall, strong and broad physique is factored in. He also fell easily into the train hard, play hard culture of Perth, something with which the city's AFL club West Coast was synonymous.

"The biggest thing then was that I was a young kid who enjoyed himself," he says. "I still do, it's just a case that the last few years I've certainly matured, not only as a cricketer but as a person as well. You tend to grow up and make better decisions, and I like to think I'm doing that now. I'm working extremely hard at my game every day to try to improve and hopefully that can keep progressing in the middle."

Around the time of the aforementioned Champions League, progress had stalled somewhat. It took the arrival of Justin Langer to the Western Australian rooms to provide Marsh with the sort of direction he needed, not only from the coach but from other senior players. All were given a stronger sense of purpose by Langer, who was unafraid of harsh truths and difficult conversations in order to get the state side performing again.

Among Langer's early lessons for the team was a strong reminder of the fact that celebrations of a win should never be allowed to impinge upon the chances of taking out the ultimate prize - in WA's case the Sheffield Shield - and that team behaviour had to be modulated accordingly. Legends of Langer's intensity have travelled widely, but Marsh argues that he has knocked a tad more common sense into what had been a quite wayward group.

"JL's been fantastic for West Australian cricket as a player and now as a coach," Marsh says. "Probably the best thing he does for us, because we've got such a young group and a young squad, he just instils great morals and work ethic for all of us moving forward. When you've got a young group that's something that will hold us in good stead for a long time.

"He's certainly been great for me, when he first came in he was quite hard on a certain few of us, and we've all reaped the rewards for that. I can't thank him enough. A lot of people when they talk about Justin Langer as a coach they say it's a boot camp and you're not allowed to enjoy your teammates' success or enjoy a win, but that's certainly not the case. What JL's brought in is just common sense.

"It's something all of us have taken on board. We're Australian, and as an Australian cricket team or WA team you're always going to enjoy your team-mates' success and that's why you play the game. Common sense is certainly one of our team rules and it's all about knowing when to pull the reins in."

There is something of this culture in the Australian team also, not surprising when it is considered that Darren Lehmann played all but one of his 27 Test matches alongside Langer. "People watch us, it's why we train so hard, why we work hard off the field, so when we do have success in the field we can enjoy it and then the next day it's bang, straight onto it and back into preparing hard for the next game," Marsh says. "It's certainly a great balance in this squad and great fun to be around."

Another key influencer of Marsh for both state and national teams has been Adam Voges, who was appointed state captain after North stepped down. Voges' performances as a batsman have been prolific, and he was rewarded with a baggy green during the recent West Indies tour. Marsh, who earned a debut Test cap against Pakistan in Dubai last October, said Voges' example was perhaps his most inspiring.

"He's one of the best leaders I've ever played under, and certainly any leadership roles in the future," Marsh says, "if I ever get one, he's certainly taught me everything about being a role-model as a person off the field and as a captain on the field.

"He's someone I look up to massively, it was amazing to see him make his Test debut and it was a little bit weird being a younger guy and having a baggy green before someone like him, who I look up to so much. For our young group he's been amazing, he teaches us all so much."

One area Marsh had to improve was his physical readiness for the arduous task of an allrounder's workload. His back and hamstrings have been unable to bear the strain at times in the past, and his bowling action is now significantly remodelled in order to allow him to keep from breaking down. Considerable fitness work at the National Cricket Centre before this tour had Marsh lean and primed for the task ahead.

"A lot of my injuries have come from bowling, and like everyone says it's a matter of bodies maturing. As a young bowler you're going to get injured, and hopefully over the last 18 months I've got my body to a point where I'll have less and less injuries," Marsh says. "At the moment it's feeling really good, I had an extended break after the World Cup which allowed me to get really fit, the body feels great at the moment.

"It's about finding an action that's going to put the least amount of stress on your body as you can. Certainly at a young age, you see some of the older guys don't worry too much about changing their action because their bones and muscles are mature.

"For me I feel like I've found an action that's working for me, and it's about every training session trying to get better with Craig McDermott - he's been great for me - and as an allrounder one thing is making sure you're bowling fast enough to fill that fourth bowling role."

In England, Marsh placed his stamp on the tour with a pair of domineering hundreds against Kent and Essex, two innings that allowed him some time in the middle after weeks of running the drinks in the Caribbean. "The one thing that is hardest when you're not playing is just to stay hungry all the time," Marsh says. "That's one thing I've worked on with [batting coach] Michael Di Venuto, just practising good habits so when I do get an opportunity hopefully I'm good to go."

Having chosen to pitch Marsh into an Ashes debut in place of Shane Watson, that's what Australia's selectors are hoping too. If Marsh does well there may be more tears, but any shed at Lord's will be far sweeter than the bitter ones shed at Centurion back in 2012.