Australia’s white-ball captain Mitchell Marsh has dropped a small hint about his Test return to the Ashes after head coach Andrew McDonald revealed an explosive opener was in the plans.
Marsh is currently focused on the T20I against India, which starts on Wednesday. With Matt Short out with a finger injury, Josh Philippe is likely to play for Australia, with Ben McDermott joining the team as Short’s replacement.
Mitchell Marsh ready for Test return after a great season in limited-overs cricket
Mitchell Marsh has not played a single match in the longest format of the game since the 2024 Border-Gavaskar Trophy Boxing Day Test. However, he is currently subject to a Test recall due to his commendable performance in limited-overs cricket.
Your daily cricket intake!
Notably, he averaged over 60 runs in ODIs in 2025 and over 71.5 runs in the shortest format of the match, all such records coming after he was appointed as Australia’s captain in the absence of Pat Cummins.
Marsh is one of those Australian players who can play a super-aggressive brand of cricket, similar to England’s Buzzballers.
Mitchell Marsh wanted a month’s vacation after the India series
Ahead of the first T20I in Canberra, Australian captain Mitchell Marsh said a return to Tests was not in the plan, but it could happen if the circumstances were right.
“Honestly, I was hoping for a month or so off after this,” Marsh joked. “To be honest, I didn’t think much of it. I had a busy schedule with the white-ball tour. I’m just focused on this series right now,” Marsh said.
“I love playing for Western Australia, so we’ll see where it lands at the end of this series.” Mitchell Marsh was set to return to the Test team only as a specialist batsman after failing to bowl a single ball in his last few Test appearances due to fitness issues.
Andrew McDonald said: “We have not given up on Mitch Marsh’s Test career yet.
Mitchell Marsh has a solid record against England, with all three of his 100 Tests coming in the Ashes series. Therefore, despite Marsh’s skepticism about returning, Australia head coach Andrew McDonald kept Marsh in the plan of things.
“We have not given up on Mitch Marsh’s Test career yet,” McDonald said on Monday.
“So what will the preparation be like for him? It’s going to have to be through the white ball, or if he’s not in that first team it’s probably going to be Shield cricket after the white ball. Then (he) can make his case through that.”
“Even when we’re playing Test matches, there’s Shield (rounds) five and six, where the players who didn’t play in the first Test obviously go to work,” the Australian head coach added.
Also read: Rohit Sharma called ‘most underrated’ white-ball captain by Australia’s legendary captain