Geoff Marsh: 10 interesting things about Australia's resolute opener
Geoff Marsh: 10 interesting things to know about Australia’s resolute opener
Geoff Marsh: 10 interesting things about Australia's resolute opener
By Updated: Dec 31, 2014, 7:14 PM IST
Geoffrey Robert Marsh, born December 31, 1958, was one of Australia's key members at the top of the order in the late '80s and early '90s. Shiamak Unwalla lists 10 interesting things about one of Australia's most dogged opening batsmen.1. World Cup winner, twice Geoff Marsh is the only man in the history of the game to win the cricket World Cup in two roles. He was a member of Australia's victorious 1987 World Cup-winning squad, and was later the coach when Australia triumphed in 1999. 2. Swampy & SOS Marsh's nickname was the not-very-creative "Swampy." His elder son Shaun got a slightly more imaginative name: SOS (Son of Swampy)! 3. Nude shadows! Marsh is perhaps one of the few people who has ever managed to embarrass David Boon. The two were opening partners for years, and also shared rooms when on tour. Boon related the story of how he once awoke to see Marsh shadow-practicing his technique — while wearing only his birthday suit! Marsh later said in an interview, "I was naked but I had my baggy green on, which was something...It is just what you do; You get up in the morning and you grab a bat and look at yourself in the mirror. It just so happened that I did not have anything on." 4. Novel disagreement Boon and Marsh's unique comradeship didn't end with nude batting. Apparently, Marsh disliked it when Boon read books, so much so that he once shredded the novel Boon was reading! It did not sour their relationship though; the pair remains fast friends even now. 5. Sporting family The Marshes are a sporting family through and through. Apart from Geoff, his eldest son Shaun and youngest son Mitchell are both Test players for Australia, while his middle child, Melissa, was a Women's National Basketball League player till the 2013-14 season. Geoff, Shaun, and Mitchell are only the third father-son trio to play Test cricket, the others being Walter, Richard, and Dayle Hadlee, and Lala, Surinder, and Mohinder Amarnath. 6. Single over Marsh bowled a single over in an international career spanning 167 matches across seven years. He bowled against India at Sydney in what was his fourth ODI. Batting first, he led Australia to 292 with an excellent 125 off 145 balls. He was the seventh bowler to be employed, and bowled just the one over which went for four runs. It was evidently not a particularly impressive one, because he never bowled again. 7. Farm life Marsh was born on a farm, and spent much of his early cricketing days practicing in the countryside. He related how he owes his powers of concentration to — of all things — lambs! "My wife Michelle had 21 pet lambs. She used to get a bucket of milk for them and when you let the lambs out of their pen, they would go berserk. We deliberately put the milk drum right behind the practice wicket and let the lambs out. They would be screaming and baaing and I would pretend it was Bay 13 and would be letting balls go as the lambs were going off," Marsh said in an interview. 8. Swampy and Tubby set a record Marsh and his then-opening partner Mark 'Tubby' Taylor entered the record books when they became the first pair to bat for an entire day in England. The duo put on 301 runs on the opening day of the fifth Test at Trent Bridge without being separated. Their partnership was finally broken on the second day, with Marsh being dismissed for 138 off 382 balls. Taylor went on to score 219 as Australia piled on 602 for six. Australia ended up winning by an innings and 180 runs. 9. Marsh and Marsh Despite having the same last name, Geoff Marsh is in no way related to former Australian 'keeper Rod Marsh. Co-incidentally, Geoff made his debut the year after Rod retired. Consequently, the Australian team had a Marsh in their playing XI almost constantly between 1970 and 1992. 10. Relationship with Simmo Marsh was extremely close to former Australian coach Bob Simpson, whom he rated as the best coach he ever played under. Marsh spoke about Simpson in an interview with The Daily Telegraph, "He was the best cricket coach who has ever been in my view. He taught more cricketers how to play than anyone I know." Simpson was a strict disciplinarian. "He knew everything about everybody, Simmo. You would go to training if you had a late night and he would say "Boon, Marsh and Taylor, come with me'' and he would work you hard. You would say "how did he know we were out late?'' We found out later that he would pay the concierge at team hotels to keep an eye on things," said Marsh. (Shiamak Unwalla is proud Whovian and all-round geek who also dabbles in cricket writing as a reporter with CricketCountry. His Twitter handle is @ShiamakUnwalla)