ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA - DECEMBER 03: Shaun Marsh of Australia celebrates his century during day two of the Second Test match during the 2017/18 Ashes Series between Australia and England at Adelaide Oval on December 3, 2017 in Adelaide, Australia. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

Shaun Marsh is a polarising cricketer.

Loved by some, loathed by others, his stop-start career has been full of false starts and frustrating failures. But vindication of his prodigious talent is beginning to arrive in the best possibly currency: runs.

His selection in the squad before Brisbane was questioned, given his inconsistency at the top level. An average in the mid-thirties with a history of injuries does not demand selection, but his form prior to the first test, did so.

Marsh was the highest run scorer in the JLT one-day cup, and scored three 50’s in the Sheffield Shield games before the first test, when selectors were looking for players in form.

It was one of the few occasions in his career where he was in good touch before he was selected for international duties. We all remember the torrid time he had in Australia against India in the summer of 2011-12, where he scored a total of just 17 runs in four matches. But it’s easy to forget that he was injured earlier that summer, and had played just one BBL game post-injury before he was recalled.

Prior to his selection for Australia’s tour of South Africa in 2014, where he scored 148 in the first innings of the series before a pair in the second test, he was not in the top 30 run-scorers in the 2013/14 Sheffield Shield season, with just two centuries at an average of 36.

The faith that the men in-charge have shown in Marsh has hardly been his fault, and with a cover drive like his, it’s easy to see why they have been seduced.

In Brisbane, Marsh joined Steve Smith with the Australians struggling at 4/76. England’s bowlers were on top, and the Australian’s pre-game chatter of ending careers and emotional scarring was beginning to look embarrassing.

While he struggled for timing, Marsh occupied the crease for 141 deliveries on his way to a gritty half-century and along with his skipper, slowly but surely wrestled back the ascendancy for the home side. Struggling at 4-76, became 5-175, and when Marsh departed, Smith had reached 67 and was on his way to a brilliant captain’s hundred.

Renowned for his stroke-making ability and effortless, seemingly laconic approach at the crease, it was an innings of maturity from the eldest member of the side in a time of need. The next man in before the bowlers was Tim Paine, whose selection was also hotly debated, given his dubious preparation. But Marsh’s innings, along with Smith’s, meant that the Australian’s were in a position where a low score from Paine was not the end of the world.

Australia's batsman Shaun Marsh cuts the ball away on his way to scoring his century against England on the second day of the second Ashes cricket Test match in Adelaide in December 3, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / William WEST / -- IMAGE RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - STRICTLY NO COMMERCIAL USE -- (Photo credit should read WILLIAM WEST/AFP/Getty Images)

A week later in Adelaide, Marsh faced a similar situation. Australia were 4/161, having just lost Smith. Marsh joined Peter Handscomb at the crease, who was looking far from comfortable in difficult conditions under lights.

Again, Marsh absorbed the pressure of the moment. Again, Marsh occupied time. And again, he had periods of time where he struggled to score. Paine began his innings, passed 50 and was removed before Marsh managed raised the bat for a half-century himself.
But he survived that difficult period, and a rather chaotic opening session on day two with a new ball, where he was given out LBW but had it overturned on review.

Unlike in Melbourne in 2014, where he spent an eternity in the 90’s before a disastrous run-out saw him fall one run short of a maiden home century, Marsh raced from 90 to 100 in just five deliveries, reaching the magic milestone with a glorious pull shot that found the boundary.

Despite having reached three figures in Australia before, it was this innings that seems to have finally convinced the Australian public of his ability. His only other century in Australia was against a hapless West Indies side in 2015, where he scored 182 and was dropped for the next match, to accommodate a returning Usman Khawaja.

Of Marsh’s 13 Test innings’ where he has passed 50 in test cricket, seven of them have come overseas. Two of his half centuries came on the tour of India in 2017, including one which turned a certain loss into a hard-fought draw, which kept the series alive in Ranchi.

Chasing 152 to make India bat again, Australia were in major strife at 4/63 on the final day. Marsh and Handscomb put on 124 for the fifth wicket, helping Australia eke-out a gritty draw.

Away from Australia, this effort largely went unnoticed, and unfortunately for Marsh, he lost his Cricket Australia contract following that tour, and was overlooked for the tour of Bangladesh in August, despite the selectors viewing him as a subcontinental specialist.

His reprieve for this series looks to be his final chance, but a chance he has taken with both hands.

Like in Brisbane, Marsh had to be patient and show restraint, hitting just 12 boundaries in his 100. Unlike Brisbane, where his dangling bat regularly threatened to produce an edge, Marsh left the ball well, and took his chances when presented.

Having reached his hundred, the final over of the innings included two fours and a monstrous six back over the bowler’s head, as if to rub salt into the gaping English wound, after 149 overs after having elected to bowl.

While his age may count against him, Marsh’s current form may lead to the monotonous search for the elusive sixth batsman finally comes to a close.