Rod Marsh facts for kids
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| Full name |
Rodney William Marsh
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| Born | 4 November 1947 Armadale, Western Australia |
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| Died | 4 March 2022 (aged 74) Adelaide, South Australia |
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| Nickname | Bacchus, Iron Gloves | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Left-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Right-arm off break | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | Wicketkeeper | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relations | Graham Marsh (brother) Daniel Marsh (son) |
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| National side | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Test debut (cap 249) | 27 November 1970 v England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Test | 6 January 1984 v Pakistan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ODI debut (cap 7) | 5 January 1971 v England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last ODI | 12 February 1984 v West Indies | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1968/69–1983/84 | Western Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: Cricinfo, 20 November 2008
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Rodney William Marsh MBE (born 4 November 1947 – died 4 March 2022) was a famous Australian cricketer. He played as a wicketkeeper for the Australian national team.
Marsh played Test cricket for Australia from 1970 to 1984. He set a world record by making 355 dismissals as a wicketkeeper. This was the same number of wickets taken by his teammate, Dennis Lillee, a fast bowler. Marsh and Lillee were known for their amazing partnership. They worked together to get 95 Test wickets, which was a record for a bowler-wicketkeeper pair. They even started and finished their Test careers in the same matches. Wisden magazine said their partnership had a huge impact on the game.
When Marsh first started his Test career, some people criticized his wicketkeeping. They even nicknamed him "Iron Gloves" because he sometimes dropped catches. But he worked hard and got much better. By the end of his career, he was seen as one of the best wicketkeepers ever. He was also known for his strong team spirit. Once, his captain, Bill Lawry, declared the innings closed when Marsh was close to scoring a century. Marsh put the team first, saying he gained runs for the team by allowing more bowling time. He was also called "Australia's marshal" because he could cheer up his team and change the game's momentum.
In 2009, Rod Marsh was honored by being added to the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.
Contents
Early Life and Cricket Beginnings
Rod Marsh was born in Armadale, a suburb of Perth, on 4 November 1947. His parents were Barbara and Ken Marsh. He played backyard cricket with his older brother, Graham, who later became a professional golfer. Both brothers played cricket for Western Australia when they were schoolboys.
Marsh played his first official cricket match at age eight for the Armadale under-16s team. He was already a wicketkeeper then. At 13, he was the captain of the state schoolboys' team. He then joined the West Perth cricket club. When he first played for West Perth's top team, he was a specialist batsman. This was because the main Western Australia wicketkeeper, Gordon Becker, also played for that club. To improve his wicketkeeping, Marsh moved to the University club. Here, he became good friends with Dennis Lillee in 1966.
Marsh played his first major match for Western Australia in 1968–69. He played as a batsman against the touring West Indies. It was an unusual match for him, as he scored 0 runs in one innings and then 104 runs in the other. His quick 104 runs against a strong West Indies bowling team was very impressive.
Rod Marsh's Test Cricket Journey
Rod Marsh became the main wicketkeeper for Western Australia in the 1969–70 season. He was chosen for the first Test match of the 1970–71 Ashes series, replacing Brian Taber. This choice was a bit surprising because Marsh was picked mainly for his batting skills.
Early Challenges and Nicknames
In his early career, some people in the media criticized Marsh's wicketkeeping. They called him "Iron Gloves" because he sometimes dropped catches. However, in his very first Test match against England in 1970–71, he took four catches in the first innings. His batting was very important for the team. In the Fifth Test, he scored 92 runs, almost reaching a century. His captain, Bill Lawry, declared the innings closed, meaning Marsh couldn't get his century. Marsh showed great team spirit, saying he was happy for the team to get more bowling time. He later said he learned a lot about wicketkeeping by watching England's wicketkeeper, Alan Knott.
Becoming a Team Leader
Marsh quickly became a key player for the Australian team. He was known for helping to create the team's special victory song, "Under the Southern Cross I Stand". He adapted it from a poem by Henry Lawson. Marsh used to lead the team in singing this song after wins. When he retired, he passed this important role to Allan Border. This tradition started after Australia's big win against England in 1972.
Record-Breaking Achievements
In 1972–73, Marsh became the first Australian wicketkeeper to score a century in a Test match. He scored 118 runs against Pakistan in Adelaide. He also scored his highest first-class score of 236 runs against the same team for Western Australia. Marsh played a big part in Australia's wins against England and the West Indies in 1974–75 and 1975–76. He made many amazing dives to catch balls from fast bowlers like Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson. In those two series, he made 45 dismissals, including a world-record 26 catches in six Tests against the West Indies.
In 1977, Marsh scored an unbeaten 110 runs in the Centenary Test against England. This made him the first Australian wicketkeeper to score a Test century against England. In the same match, he broke Wally Grout's record for most Test dismissals by an Australian wicketkeeper. He also scored 16 half-centuries in Tests and 11 centuries in first-class matches.
Later Career and Retirement
When the new World Series Cricket competition started, Marsh joined it. He made 54 dismissals in 16 of these special matches. When he returned to regular international cricket in 1979–80, he was still an excellent wicketkeeper. On the 1981 tour of England, he made 23 dismissals. He became the first wicketkeeper to make 100 dismissals in Ashes Tests. He also broke Alan Knott's world record for dismissals and passed 3000 runs in Test cricket.
In his second-to-last season, 1982–83, he made 28 dismissals against England. His batting form dropped a bit towards the end of his Test career. In his last Test match against Pakistan in Sydney on 6 January 1984, he made five dismissals. He set a new world record for most Test dismissals by a wicketkeeper with 355. He was also the first wicketkeeper to reach 350 dismissals. Rod Marsh retired from Test cricket at the same time as Dennis Lillee and former captain Greg Chappell.
Rod Marsh's Playing Style
Rod Marsh was a strong player, known as an all-rounder for most of his career. Even though he was powerfully built, he moved quickly behind the stumps. He had fast reflexes and could anticipate where the ball would go. He made the role of wicketkeeper more important with his amazing dives, loud appeals, and habit of throwing the ball high after a dismissal. He made himself a key part of the team on the field, pushing himself and his teammates to concentrate more. He had a great understanding with Dennis Lillee, saying he often knew what Lillee would do before he even bowled the ball.
At the state level, Marsh was a successful captain. He led Western Australia to win both the Sheffield Shield and Gillette Cup in 1976–77.
Marsh was also a very good player in One Day International (ODI) matches. He was a strong wicketkeeper and a powerful lower-order batsman. He could score runs very quickly at the end of an innings. In one match against New Zealand in 1980–81, he scored 26 runs from the final over.
After Playing: Coaching and Other Roles
After retiring from playing, Rod Marsh became a cricket commentator for Channel Nine from 1986–1990 and 1996–1998.
He was a coach at the Australian Cricket Academy in Adelaide from its start. He became its director from 1990 to 2001. Some of the famous Australian players he coached include wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist and fast bowlers Jason Gillespie and Brett Lee.
From 2001 to 2005, Marsh was the Director of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) national academy. During this time, England's team improved a lot. In 2005, they won the Ashes series against Australia for the first time in 16 years.
In 2006, Marsh took on a role to review cricket in South Australia. He also worked with the Global Cricket Academy in Dubai. In 2011, he joined the Cricket Australia national selection panel part-time. He also helped coach other coaches across Australia.
Marsh became the chairman of selectors for Cricket Australia on 2 May 2014. He had been Cricket Australia's manager of elite coaching development before this. He resigned from this role on 16 November 2016, after Australia lost a series to South Africa.
Awards and Recognition
Rod Marsh received several honors for his contributions to cricket:
- He was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1982.
- He was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1985.
- He was named one of Wisden's Cricketer of the Year in 1982.
- He received an Australian Sports Medal in 2000.
- He received a Centenary Medal in 2001.
- In 2005, Cricket Australia inducted him into the Cricket Hall of Fame.
- In 2015, he gave the MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture, following other Australian cricket legends.
- He became an Honorary Life Member of the Marylebone Cricket Club in 1988.
Actor Brendan Cowell played Rod Marsh in the 2012 Australian TV show Howzat! Kerry Packer's War.
Personal Life and Passing
Rod Marsh's son, Daniel Marsh, also played cricket and captained the Tasmanian cricket team for a time.
On 24 February 2022, Rod Marsh had a heart attack in Bundaberg, Queensland. He was on his way to a charity event. He passed away eight days later, on 4 March 2022, in Adelaide, South Australia, at the age of 74. His death happened on the same day as another Australian cricket icon, Shane Warne.
Images for kids
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Rod Marsh, a legendary Australian wicketkeeper.
