who offer speed, swing and seam movement; they

Australia have so far invested 15 Test matches in Mitchell Marsh, the fledgling allrounder. Over that time he has shown glimpses of a match winner, broken up by rather more passages that have shown a 24-year-old cricketer still learning his game and those of others around him. In Sri Lanka, there is hope that the investment may be about to mature.Moulding an allround cricketer of high class can take a long time, and history is dotted with examples of exactly how much. After 15 Tests, Steve Waugh averaged 29.68 with the bat and 35.38 with the ball. At the same juncture, Andrew Flintoffs averages were 20.08 and 40.31. Marsh, at 23.00 and 34.52, sits somewhere in between. Perhaps the source of most discontent is that his highest Test innings, a very fine 87 against Pakistan, dates back to his second Test in 2014. His bowling appears to have progressed more thoroughly than his batting. On the recent West Indies ODI tour, Marsh was given a more central role at times by his captain Steven Smith, and rewarded that faith. Promoted in the batting order against the West Indies, he responded with a cool-headed 79 not out opposite Smith to steer Australia into the tournament final. When the decider arrived, it was Marshs impactful 3 for 32 that wrecked the hosts chances of a successful chase. Those memories remain at the forefront of his mind.The biggest thing for me is confidence and going out there and playing my natural game, Marsh said in Kandy. I took a lot of confidence out of the West Indies tour because the conditions were quite similar to what were going to face here, it was hot and the wickets were quite slow and turned a little bit. I took a lot out of that.There will be added responsibility for Marsh in Sri Lanka should the selectors opt for the kind of configuration suited to the dry and turning wickets they expect. A place at No. 6 in in the batting order will be allied to a commission as third seamer, with the need to bowl tightly while also looking for wickets. In his first two Tests in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Marsh struggled to ask questions of the Pakistani batsmen but has since added pace, reverse swing and cross-seam variations to his armoury.Thats probably the only thing that will change, Marsh said of the potential for longer stints at the bowling crease behind the likely new-ball pairing of Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood. Maybe bowling longer spells earlier in the innings, trying to work the ball and create some pressure for when the spinners come on and do their business.The more Test-match cricket you play, you get a lot of flat wickets where the ball doesnt generally do a lot, so youve got to work out ways to get the ball doing something. Thats something Ive worked on over the last 18 months to be able to get wickets for the team. Hopefully Ill be able to work on reverse swing over here and get a few wickets for us.As a batting collective, the Australians are devoting their preparatory energy to the idea of spending long periods of time in the middle, showing patience and not allowing Sri Lankas spinners or pacers to goad them into errors against in and out fields. For Marsh, this is the area where he has the most improvement to make. Since that double of 87 (161 minutes, 116 balls) and 47 (164, 130) in Abu Dhabi, he has never again soaked up 100 balls, or minutes for that matter, in a Test innings.We werent sure we were going to get much spin out of them in that game, but it was nice a few of us got to face a few overs against spin and it was nice to start against spin, because its probably going to be something Ill come up against in the Test matches, Marsh said of Australias tour game, where he made 25 from 38 balls. Probably the biggest thing here is if its turning just make sure you have a game plan and stick to it from ball one no matter what. All about being as sharp as you can.Ive done a lot of work in the nets over the last six months playing spin and trying to improve that, so hopefully itll come out in the Test matches. Weve spoken about how if it is turning its going to be hard work no doubt about that, but its about having a game plan and really sticking to that, and having the confidence to go out there and play your game.At times, Marshs batting has shown a certain stiffness welcomed by spin bowlers, as he pushes out hard at the ball while also struggling to find a way to rotate the strike. He fared better at these skills in the Caribbean, and has also worked on developing a sweep shot as a way of fighting back against disciplined slow bowling in helpful conditions.Ive worked really hard on my sweep shot over the last few months so hopefully in these matches Ill be able to get it out, Marsh said. Especially if its turning, I think its a great weapon to have, if the balls turning too much and missing the stumps its a great weapon to have to try to mess up the bowlers lengths and do something different. And also get off strike, which is the most important thing. Hopefully Ill be out there long enough to play it.For 15 Test matches, Australia have looked upon Marsh as an emerging allrounder. By the end of this tour, the tourists hope is that the emerging prefix can be discarded. Cheap Adidas Superstar . Pettersen, winner of last years Evian Championships, had nine birdies and three bogeys, holding off a series of challengers led by Marion Ricordeau of France. 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While Australia lurch through a wide range of selection conundrums ranging from resting bowlers to Steven Smith saying there is no-one banging down the door domestically and now the sudden stepping down of Rod Marsh, South Africa are seemingly spoilt for choice in a remarkable change of fortune from last summers struggles. Back then, it seemed South Africa were touching the bottom of their talent pool. Now, that bottom has been proven false and they have options in every discipline.Instead of delight in any schadenfreude, convener Linda Zondi remained mindful of the cycles that a selection committee can go through. One thing I have learned in this position as convener of selectors is that its a thankless job. You have to understand the position you hold. Either way, there will be issues. I dont want to get involved too much in the Australian selection but as long as we are happy where we are, I am comfortable. There will be hard times going forward. Im happy with the team, the environment, the players and the way they have performed for us. Its excellent, he said.Zondi was appointed in July last year, after serving on his predecessor Andrew Hudsons panel, and his first task was to pick the squad to tour India. On that trip, South Africa lost both Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander to injuries, prompting a revolving door of fast bowlers that were used through the summer. Kagiso Rabada made his first appearance in Mohali, Chris Morris and Hardus Viljoen debuted against England and Kyle Abbott yo yo-ed in and out of the side. At the other end of the team sheet, there was pressure to find an opening batsman when Stiaan van Zyl struggled and its not as though everything in between was settled.Dane Vilas was used that time after Quinton de Kock was not included in the India Test squad because of losing form earlier in the year. Like van Zyl, Vilas also battled. Instead of recalling de Kock immediately, the gloves were given to AB de Villiers who responded with complaints about workload. In addition to that, both Faf du Plessis and JP Duminy lost form and were dropped in turns, leaving the middle order lacking muscle.Before Zondi and his panel could begin to find a solution, ahead of the New Zealand series this August, they were hit by another requirement. They needed to meet transformation targets too. The system seemed set to fail but the selectors have come out smiliing with targets met and a winning team.dddddddddddd How did they achieve that?The board makes policy, and our role is to implement those policies, Zondi said. When we got to the stage where the policies were passed, we were in the position where the best represented South Africa, regardless of any target or colour. All the players deserve to be there and weve got young guys that are coming through to add to the senior squad.The panel was helped by the return of Steyn - albeit temporarily - and Philander, the second coming of Duminy, the ability of du Plessis to step up and the coming of age of de Kock, Temba Bavuma and Rabada - but theyve also made some brave calls. Dane Piedt was dropped for the Australia Tests for two rookie spinners and Morne Morkel, battling fitness concerns, has not yet been recalled.Those decisions were not easy but Zondi explained that they were made with the focus on combinations and conditions. We are looking at conditions and seeing how we feel, and how the players suit a particular role. The combination is important.Crucially for South Africa they have been able to toggle their combinations because they have enough players in each department. Their attack includes seamers who offer speed, swing and seam movement; they have an offspinner in Duminy, a left-arm spinner in Keshav Maharaj and a wristspinner in Tabraiz Shamsi plus they have attacking batsmen like de Kock and Rilee Rossouw to Bavumas more cautious style.That has allowed them to compile as diverse a squad as possible and, having studied the domestic set-up, Zondi believes the trend will continue.You can only make those decisions when you know you have a good enough back-up in whatever role you are looking at. Domestically, I am happy with what Ive seen. The stronger the franchise matches are, the better for South Africa A and the Proteas.We have a lot of guys, who are matric (final year or school) and performing at franchise level and guys that have been in the system for a while are dominating. Another benefit that I see is that weve got good coaches so its a good combination of the two. We are in a position where players in every single role is available. Its just a matter of us taking those guys to that next level and seeing how we move on. ' ' '