Rodney Marsh at the Cricket Society of South Africa (11 Sep 1996)

Rodney Marsh at the Cricket Society of South Africa - 11/9/96.

A report from Cricinfo`s correspondent, Bob Dubery,

Marsh still holds the record for the most dismissals in a test career and was fittingly introduced by the man who holds the record for test dismissals by a South African keeper - John Waite. Waite`s record is 141 (17 stumped) in 50 matches, which when extrapolated falls some way short of Marsh`s 355 (including 12 stumpings) in 96 matches.

Of course, a good few of those 343 catches came courtesy of one D.K. Lillee who Marsh described as the best fast bowler he ever saw. "He had this fast, late out swinger off of a good length. There was no answer to it."

Asked if his last few matches for Australia felt strange due to Lillee`s absence (Lillee had retired after the 5th test against Pakistan in 1984 whilst Marsh played on till the end of the season), Marsh said "I felt Dennis and Greg (Chappell) were wimps for not seeing the season out. I always said `If you start a season, you finish that season.` "

It was a typically frank reply from a man who spoke for twenty or so minutes about his experience as coach at the Australian Cricket Academy and then invited the audience to "get stuck into me".

Commenting on his contemporaries he first listed 10 batsmen who`s techniques he had admired from behind the stumps. First up were Ian Chappell, Javed Miandad and Rohan Kanhai. These, he opined, were the men you`d want batting on a sticky wicket when the team was in trouble. He described all three as "fighters" and added that they were all exceptional judges of line and length, as well as being "entertaining" cricketers.

He also mentioned Graeme Pollock as being an exceptionally fine judge of length. "When he was `on` ", said Marsh, " the difference between a short ball and a over pitch was about a centimetre."

Other batsmen he rated were Greg Chappell, Barry Richards ("though I once bowled him out in a single wicket competition") , Zaheer Abbas ("the best slow wicket player in the world"), Sunil Gavaskar, Viv Richards and Geoff Boycott, of whom Dennis Lillee is alleged to have said "Geoff fell in love with himself at a young age and remained faithful thereafter."

Bowlers? Lillee was number one in Marsh`s list of fast men which also included Thomson ("the fastest of all"), Garner, Croft, Marshall, Hadlee, Holding and Roberts. He gave an interesting insight into Lillee`s combative nature by remarking that the great fast bowler rarely bowled well at tail-enders.

Finally he named Gary Sobers as the best all round cricketer "ever" and Alan Knott as a superb `keeper.

Interestingly enough he never mentioned Ian Botham until prompted. "Not a true all rounder" was Marsh`s typically candid opinion. He remarked that Botham was so remarkably successful against Australian batsmen because he played so aggressively and the Australians tended, in Botham`s case, to meet fire with fire and either bounce him or try to "hoik all those long hops over the fence".

He professed not to know too much about the current crop of test players, "I prefer to watch the academy boys", but named Ian Healy as being the current number one `keeper in the world and Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar as the only two batsmen that he went out of his way to watch.

And Shane Warne? "Oh he`s great. But he can still get better. He can improve his wrong`un and he needs to watch his weight."

Mention of Healy bought forth a question about England`s Jack Russell and his recent record haul of 10 dismissals in a single match. Again the answer was forthright: "Well, if 10 edges came his way then he should have held all 10 of them, shouldn`t he? It`s not how many you catch that makes you a good keeper - it`s how many you miss."

Marsh is also unimpressed by the current state of English Cricket: "They invented the game and then proceeded to cock it up." He declined to comment on the reasons for the recent poor record of the English team but said that the selectors were not helping things by picking players for a match or two matches at a time. "If you pick a youngster because you believe he can succeed at the highest level then give him a decent run in the team instead of dropping him the minute he fails."

He also recalled a remark that Keith Fletcher, then the England Manager, had made on the third day of the last Ashes test at Adelaide: "The best we can hope for now is an honourable draw."

"How are the players supposed to feel if the manager`s making that kind of statement?", asked Marsh.

Marsh had been commentating with Christopher Martin Jenkins at the time, and gave the English commentator his opinion that Fletcher`s remark had been "disgraceful" and that Fletcher should be fired for making it on the third day of a five day match. He also noted that England could still win the game "but only if they believe that they can".

He was right on all counts: England won the match and shortly thereafter Fletcher was removed from his post.

Perhaps most the most surprising statement from a man who speaks his mind but does so without malice was his assertion that Australia still need to prove that they are number one in the test arena. "We haven`t beaten Pakistan in Pakistan for as long as I can remember, and we`re all square with South Africa since you got back into international cricket."

He was forthright about coaching as well, and again made an allusion towards English Cricket:

"People say I must be a good coach, but my motto is `if it ain`t broke then don`t fix it.` The young players that come to the academy have already worked out a technique that`s successful for them, and I see no reason to change anything that they do unless a problem comes to light."

He doesn`t wish his team luck before they go onto the field: "I don`t believe in luck. What I do wish them is enjoyment. If they enjoy themselves and the game then they`ll play the kind of cricket I like to see: Attractive, entertaining cricket."

He also demands from them a higher state of fitness than was the norm in his playing days.

"We`d do a lap of the WACA, and that was our pre-season training."

But perhaps his most candid remark was in response to the 1981 Headingley test when England won after following on: "What did Forrest Gump say? `S--- happens.` "

Marsh was warmly applauded by an audience that included three former test players in John Waite and Syd O`Linn of South Africa and Younis Ahmed of Pakistan.