And Brad Hogg’s dream of T20 World Cup spot could become a reality with more eye-catching performances.
The Marsh family’s nightmare week was completed late on Australia Day, when Shaun was out for a duck against India – leaving him with 17 runs for the series at an average of just over two.
Coming on the back of his father Geoff’s sacking as Sri Lankan coach, the sight of a forlorn Marsh trudging off the Adelaide Oval appeared likely to be the last sighting of the talented West Australian in a Test match for some time.
But speaking on the Nine Network, Howard said Marsh’s presence in the limited overs portion of the summer would be a great chance to his redeem himself.
“Shaun is in the T20 squad so he will going out (to bat) around that (time) – and I think that is a really positive chance for him,” Marsh said.
“We will go through the next couple of weeks to assess that.
“Inver (head selector John Inverarity) is thinking about the long term planning and how he deals with every single individual. I am not going to make a call on any individual, that is not my job.
“But I have to make sure we are creating depth throughout that whole thing.
“We never write anyone off – everyone has got a journey, and Mitchell Starc is an interesting one, he comes in, comes out, comes in, comes out
“And I really like the way that has worked.”
Ironically, as one West Australian at the start of his Test career is threatened with the chop, another who thought his international days were over is the talk of the country.
Hogg’s performances for the Perth Scorchers in the Big Bash earned him an amazing call-up to next week’s T20 internationals – and Howard admitted those performances could confirm the 40-year-old a place for the T20 World Cup
“The T20 World Cup is this year – so age is not a factor. It is about winning this year, we wanted to look at performances,” Howard said.
“Hogg’s performances during that period warranted selection, and I support them 100 per cent – it is a form team, and a really interesting team.
“We want to win this year.”