In a sad news for the Australian cricket community and global cricket, former Australian wicketkeeper-batter Rod Marsh on Friday (March 4) bid farewell to the world. Marsh passed away aged 74 in Queensland after suffering a heart attack last Thursday.
Marsh’s condition never got better, unfortunately, as the ex cricketer turned cricket administrator took his last breath a week later, much to the despair of his family and fans all over the cricketing world.
An integral part of the Australian men’s international team back in the 70s and early 80s, Marsh represented his country for 96 Tests and 92 ODIs. A specialist keeper, Marsh struck nearly 5,000 international runs, besides piling a truckload of them in first-class cricket. He made over 11,000 runs in first-class cricket across 257 matches.
Marsh was the first Australian wicketkeeper-batter to hit a Test century, a remarkable achievement considering the era he grew up in, where keeping was still a specialized skill and keeper-batters, not batting-keepers, were the norm.
Notably, as a keeper, Marsh inflicted 355 Test and 889 first-class dismissals in total. In ODIs, he was involved in 120 caught and four stumping instances, which were part of his 188 dismissals in all List A cricket.
Following his retirement back in 1984, Marsh moved on to administration, including being the head of Australia’s cricket academy, before interestingly serving in the same role with England. Soon, Marsh had his own tryst with commentary and also became Australia’s chief selector for two years in 2014-16.
A cricketing personality that touched lives, Marsh’s sad passing has seen prominent names give him a befitting farewell.
The Australian Test team members were seen sporting black armbands to mourn the passing of Marsh on Day 1 of their historic Test match against Pakistan in Rawalpindi.
