Dan Marsh retires

Posted by jrod on March 24, 2009 under SA, TAS | Read the First Comment

The big sexy man of Australian domestic cricket has finally given up the ghost. Whether he chose to retire or was pushed by strong wristed men we will not know.

Dan has been a fantastic servant of Australian domestic cricket. He was old school all the way. As a batsman he was barely talented enough to play first class cricket. His tweakers were change bowling partnership breakers of someone with a clever cricket mind. His captaining was his one real skill. He was world class as a captain.

However when looking at Dan’s career you have to look at him as a whole, not the sum of his parts. He was Australian as any cricketer who ever wore the baggy green. He was a mongrel, attacking, uncompromising, a cricket genius, a knock about bloke, tough to beat, cricket fit, he did things his way and he played the game hard.

He was the 70/80s streetfighting Australian cricketer. A hard bastard to get out, a tough fucker to get away, and a sonofabitch of a captain. While he was well respected in shield cricket, there were more than a few who hated him as well. The sign of a top cricketer.

He was the last of the sonofabitch state captains, Berry, Emery and Maher having already left before him. Now we have college graduate captains who look like they wouldn’t walk into any bar that Marsh would be a regular in him.

Marsh was the grumpy old smart ass captain who probably only made it through by the force of his personality and his desire to win. State cricket will be slightly lesser for him leaving it.

You don’t have to be an international cricketer to help Australian cricket. He made his team mates better, and made his opposition try harder, without people like Daniel Marsh, Australia would not have dominated for as long as it did.

He might not have played for his Country, but he did the Marsh name proud. I am sure Rod would agree with me.

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