Rod Marsh - Test Career

Test Career

Marsh replaced the retired Becker for the 1969–70 season. At the time, Australia was touring India and South Africa with Brian Taber and Ray Jordon as the team's wicketkeepers. In the autumn of 1970, an Australian second team toured New Zealand with John MacLean as wicketkeeper. Therefore, Marsh was behind these players in the pecking order. However, he was a controversial selection for the first Test of the 1970–71 Ashes series, replacing Taber. His superior batting had won him the position.

The media was quick to criticise Marsh’s glovework in his early career, dubbing him “Iron Gloves” after he missed a number of catches. Even on his debut in the First Test in the 1970-71 Ashes series he took four catches in his first innings. His batting proved invaluable on a number of occasions and in the Fifth Test, he equalled the record for the highest Test innings by an Australian keeper, set by Don Tallon. The end of the innings was controversial; the captain Bill Lawry declared with Marsh eight runs short of a century so he could get an extra hour of bowling before stumps. When questioned by the press about his lost chance to make an historic century Marsh said he had gained forty runs instead of missing eight as he thought Lawry should have declared an hour earlier. Marsh later admitted that he was underprepared as a wicketkeeper, but he learned from watching his English counterpart Alan Knott. He and Knott did, however, concede the same number of byes in the series: 44.

Marsh became an integral part of the team as the side improved during the 1972 tour of England. He became the first Australian keeper to hit a century by scoring 118 in the first Test against Pakistan at Adelaide in 1972–73. He also hit 236 against the tourists for WA, the best score of his career. Playing a key role in Australia's series victories over England and the West Indies in the series of 1974–75 and 1975–76, Marsh made many acrobatic dives to catch balls delivered by Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson. He took 45 dismissals in those two series, including a world-record 26 catches in six Tests against the West Indies.

Marsh scored an unbeaten 110 in the second innings of the Centenary Test against England in 1977, becoming the first Australian wicketkeeper to score a Test century against England. In the same match he passed Wally Grout's Australian wicket-keeping record of 187 Test dismissals. He scored a further 16 half centuries. In first class matches, he accumulated 11 centuries including a best of 236, aggregating more than 10000 runs in his career.

When the breakaway World Series Cricket was formed, Marsh had no hesitation in signing for Kerry Packer. He claimed 54 dismissals in 16 Supertests. Upon his return to traditional international cricket in 1979–80, his age did not affect his keeping ability. On the 1981 tour of England, he took 23 dismissals to become the first wicketkeeper to take 100 dismissals in Ashes Tests, broke Knott’s world record in 22 fewer Tests and passed 3000 runs in Test cricket. In 1982-83, his second last season, he took 28 dismissals against England, including nine and eight in the Second and Third Test respectively. His batting form fell away towards the end of his Test career, his last 22 Tests yielding only 589 runs at an average of 19.63.