Mitchell Marsh to captain Western Australia as a batsman

Mitchell Marsh, the allrounder still recovering from shoulder surgery, will captain Western Australia as a batsman in the early part of the domestic season, having taken over the role from the retired Adam Voges.

In March, the 25-year-old Marsh was revealed to require a full shoulder reconstruction after mounting problems with the joint over the previous season. While yet to be ready to bowl or throw, the WACA had little hesitation choosing him as leader, with Ashton Turner, 24, named as his deputy. More senior players like Michael Klinger and Shaun Marsh can be expected to offer advice.

"The most pleasing thing for us is that this was a really tough decision. It's been a really stringent process that has been going on for three months. The reason for that is because we had five or six guys that could have been captain," the coach Justin Langer said. "This is such an exciting stage of Western Australian cricket with two young guys leading the team. When we started out five years ago one of our objectives was to develop these guys to become great players, great leaders and great people.

"Guys like Mitch, with so much international experience at such a young age will be so beneficial to have leading the group. AT [Turner] has had recent success too which is such a good sign of what's to come from both of these amazing players. It's a really positive thing to have so many natural leaders in our group. The opportunity has gone to two fantastic young guys, knowing that they will have the support senior players like Michael Klinger and Shaun Marsh."

Before the shoulder surgery, Marsh had played 21 Tests for Australia, averaging 21.74 with the bat and 37.48 with the ball. He was among the players dropped from the team following their loss of five consecutive matches across series against Sri Lanka and South Africa last year. His absence has led to the Australian selectors trying various players in the No. 6 position, including Nic Maddinson, Glenn Maxwell and Hilton Cartwright.

WA's first match of the season is a limited-overs fixture against New South Wales at the WACA Ground on September 29.