Geoff Marsh
Encyclopedia
Geoffrey Robert Marsh is a former Australia
n cricket
er, coach and selector. He played 50 Test matches
and over 100 One Day Internationals for Australia as an opening batsman. As a coach he was in charge when Australia won the 1999 Cricket World Cup
in England, before later coaching Zimbabwe for four years.
, making his first-class
debut for Western Australia
as a nineteen year old in the 1977–1978 Sheffield Shield season. In 1978 he played five games of Australian rules football
for South Fremantle
in the West Australian National Football League
before concentrating only on cricket.
Marsh established himself as a solid competitor on the domestic front and was on the fringes of the national team for a number of years before winning selection in the Australian Test
team. He made his debut in December 1985 against India
.
He soon made the opening position his own, batting alongside the likes of Mark Taylor
and David Boon
, and became an integral part of the Australian One Day International team.
Marsh played international cricket over a seven-year period, ending in 1992.
He is best remembered for his part in the Australian team that won the 1987 World Cup
in India
, including an unbeaten 126 against New Zealand
in Chandigarh
, while he also captained his country in four matches. Over his career Marsh was a solid performer in One Day International cricket, with a batting average
of nearly 40 but had a very low strike rate compared to more recent opening batsman.
in England
, guiding the team to seven consecutive victories to help them win the tournament.
He left the Australian coaching job and soon became a selector for the Australian Cricket Board (now Cricket Australia
), although he left this position in 2001 to become coach of the Zimbabwean national teams
. Marsh continued in this position until 2004 when his contract expired; many considered this decision was made due to the political circumstances of Zimbabwe
's government under Robert Mugabe
, although he has never commented publicly on the matter.
In Mid 2009 Geoff was appointed Head Coach of the Fremantle District Cricket Club, a club which Geoff spend most of his senior playing career with.
He is appointed as the head coach for the team Pune Warriors India which will make its IPL
debut in 2011.
On 23 September 2011 it was announced that he was named as the coach of the Sri Lanka national cricket team.
plays cricket for state side Western Australia
and made his debut for Australia
during the ODI series against the West Indians. He made his test cricket debut for Australia against Sri Lanka in 2011. He also plays in the Indian Premier League
for the Kings XI Punjab
team. He was the top scorer in the inaugural tournament scoring 611 runs.
His daughter Melissa
plays basketball for the Perth Lynx in the WNBL
.
His youngest son Mitchell
is a promising young cricketer and Australian rules football
player who has represented both WA and Australia at youth level and is currently captain of the Under-19 Australian cricket team. Mitchell was drafted to the Deccan Chargers
for the 2010 Indian Premier League
.
, Adelaide
, 1985–1986
Last Test: vs India, Adelaide, 1991–1992
, Sydney
, 1985–1986
Last ODI: vs Pakistan
, Perth
, 1991–1992
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er, coach and selector. He played 50 Test matches
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
and over 100 One Day Internationals for Australia as an opening batsman. As a coach he was in charge when Australia won the 1999 Cricket World Cup
1999 Cricket World Cup
-England:-Outside England:-Group A:-Results:-------------------------------------------------------------Group B:-Results:------------------------------------------------------------...
in England, before later coaching Zimbabwe for four years.
Playing career
Marsh was a steady, solid right-handed opening batsman and capable fielderFielding (cricket)
Fielding in the sport of cricket is the action of fielders in collecting the ball after it is struck by the batsman, in such a way as to either limit the number of runs that the batsman scores or get the batsman out by catching the ball in flight or running the batsman out.Cricket fielding position...
, making his first-class
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
debut for Western Australia
Western Warriors
The Western Australia cricket team are an Australian first class cricket team representing the state of Western Australia...
as a nineteen year old in the 1977–1978 Sheffield Shield season. In 1978 he played five games of Australian rules football
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
for South Fremantle
South Fremantle Football Club
The South Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed the Bulldogs, is an Australian rules football club, based in Fremantle, Western Australia, playing in the West Australian Football League...
in the West Australian National Football League
West Australian Football League
The West Australian Football League is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The WAFL is the second-most popular in the state, behind the nation-wide Australian Football League...
before concentrating only on cricket.
Marsh established himself as a solid competitor on the domestic front and was on the fringes of the national team for a number of years before winning selection in the Australian Test
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
team. He made his debut in December 1985 against India
Indian cricket team
The Indian cricket team is the national cricket team of India. Governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India , it is a full member of the International Cricket Council with Test and One Day International status....
.
He soon made the opening position his own, batting alongside the likes of Mark Taylor
Mark Taylor (cricketer)
Mark Anthony Taylor, AO is a former Australian cricket player and Test opening batsman from 1988–1999, as well as captain from 1994–1999, succeeding Allan Border...
and David Boon
David Boon
David Clarence Boon MBE , nicknamed Boony, is a former Australian cricketer whose international playing career spanned the years 1984–1995...
, and became an integral part of the Australian One Day International team.
Marsh played international cricket over a seven-year period, ending in 1992.
He is best remembered for his part in the Australian team that won the 1987 World Cup
1987 Cricket World Cup
The 1987 Cricket World Cup was the fourth edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup tournament. It was held from October 8 to November 8, 1987 in India and Pakistan — the first held outside England. The format was unchanged from 1983 except for a reduction in the number of overs a team played from 60...
in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, including an unbeaten 126 against New Zealand
New Zealand cricket team
The New Zealand cricket team, nicknamed the Black Caps, are the national cricket team representing New Zealand. They played their first in 1930 against England in Christchurch, New Zealand, becoming the fifth country to play Test cricket. It took the team until 1955–56 to win a Test, against the...
in Chandigarh
Chandigarh
Chandigarh is a union territory of India that serves as the capital of two states, Haryana and Punjab. The name Chandigarh translates as "The Fort of Chandi". The name is from an ancient temple called Chandi Mandir, devoted to the Hindu goddess Chandi, in the city...
, while he also captained his country in four matches. Over his career Marsh was a solid performer in One Day International cricket, with a batting average
Batting average
Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...
of nearly 40 but had a very low strike rate compared to more recent opening batsman.
Coaching career
Marsh retired from playing cricket in 1994 before taking up coaching. In July 1996 he was chosen as coach of the Australian national Test and One Day International teams, playing a vital part in continuing his country's positions as the top cricketing nation of the time. He was the coach of the Australian team that won the 1999 World Cup1999 Cricket World Cup
-England:-Outside England:-Group A:-Results:-------------------------------------------------------------Group B:-Results:------------------------------------------------------------...
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, guiding the team to seven consecutive victories to help them win the tournament.
He left the Australian coaching job and soon became a selector for the Australian Cricket Board (now Cricket Australia
Cricket Australia
Cricket Australia, formerly known as the Australian Cricket Board, is the governing body for professional and amateur cricket in Australia. It was originally formed in 1905 as the Australian Board of Control for International Cricket...
), although he left this position in 2001 to become coach of the Zimbabwean national teams
Zimbabwean cricket team
The Zimbabwean cricket team is a national cricket team representing Zimbabwe. It is administrated by Zimbabwe Cricket...
. Marsh continued in this position until 2004 when his contract expired; many considered this decision was made due to the political circumstances of Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
's government under Robert Mugabe
Robert Mugabe
Robert Gabriel Mugabe is the President of Zimbabwe. As one of the leaders of the liberation movement against white-minority rule, he was elected into power in 1980...
, although he has never commented publicly on the matter.
In Mid 2009 Geoff was appointed Head Coach of the Fremantle District Cricket Club, a club which Geoff spend most of his senior playing career with.
He is appointed as the head coach for the team Pune Warriors India which will make its IPL
IPL
-Sports:* Indian Premier League, a cricket league* Indonesian Premier League, a football league* Iran Pro League, a football league* Irish Premier League, a former football league* Israeli Premier League, a football league-Computing :* IBM Public License...
debut in 2011.
On 23 September 2011 it was announced that he was named as the coach of the Sri Lanka national cricket team.
Family
Marsh's son ShaunShaun Marsh
Shaun Edward Marsh is an Australian cricketer who plays for the Western Warriors in Australian domestic cricket and has represented Australia at One Day International and Twenty20 International levels...
plays cricket for state side Western Australia
Western Warriors
The Western Australia cricket team are an Australian first class cricket team representing the state of Western Australia...
and made his debut for Australia
Australian cricket team
The Australian cricket team is the national cricket team of Australia. It is the joint oldest team in Test cricket, having played in the first Test match in 1877...
during the ODI series against the West Indians. He made his test cricket debut for Australia against Sri Lanka in 2011. He also plays in the Indian Premier League
Indian Premier League
The Indian Premier League is a professional league for Twenty20 cricket competition in India. It was initiated by the Board of Control for Cricket in India , headquartered in Mumbai, and is supervised by BCCI Vice President Rajeev Shukla, who serves as the league's Chairman and Commissioner...
for the Kings XI Punjab
Punjab (India)
Punjab ) is a state in the northwest of the Republic of India, forming part of the larger Punjab region. The state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest as well as the Pakistani province of Punjab to the...
team. He was the top scorer in the inaugural tournament scoring 611 runs.
His daughter Melissa
Melissa Marsh
Melissa Marsh is a guard for the WNBL team West Coast Waves . She is also the sister of cricketers Mitchell and Shaun Marsh as well as the daughter of Geoff Marsh.-References:...
plays basketball for the Perth Lynx in the WNBL
Women's National Basketball League
The Women's National Basketball League is the pre-eminent women's professional basketball league in Australia. It currently is composed of ten teams. The league was founded in 1981 and is the women's counterpart to the National Basketball League...
.
His youngest son Mitchell
Mitchell Marsh
Mitchell Ross 'Mitch' Marsh is an Australian cricketer who plays for the Western Warriors& Sahara Pune Warriors in the IPL. He is a Wesley College Old Boy and holds the record for most runs in one Darlot Season, while Shaun Marsh, his brother, holds the highest Darlot average...
is a promising young cricketer and Australian rules football
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
player who has represented both WA and Australia at youth level and is currently captain of the Under-19 Australian cricket team. Mitchell was drafted to the Deccan Chargers
Deccan Chargers
Hyderabad Deccan Chargers known in short as DC or 'Chargers' is a cricket franchise that represents the city of Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League...
for the 2010 Indian Premier League
Indian Premier League
The Indian Premier League is a professional league for Twenty20 cricket competition in India. It was initiated by the Board of Control for Cricket in India , headquartered in Mumbai, and is supervised by BCCI Vice President Rajeev Shukla, who serves as the league's Chairman and Commissioner...
.
Tests
Test Debut: vs IndiaIndian cricket team
The Indian cricket team is the national cricket team of India. Governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India , it is a full member of the International Cricket Council with Test and One Day International status....
, Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
, 1985–1986
Last Test: vs India, Adelaide, 1991–1992
- Marsh's best Test batting score of 138 was made against EnglandEnglish cricket teamThe England and Wales cricket team is a cricket team which represents England and Wales. Until 1992 it also represented Scotland. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board , having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club from 1903 until the end...
, NottinghamTrent BridgeTrent Bridge is a Test, One-day international and County cricket ground located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England and is also the headquarters of Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. As well as International cricket and Nottinghamshire's home games, the ground has hosted the Finals Day of...
, 1989
One-day internationals
ODI Debut: vs New ZealandNew Zealand cricket team
The New Zealand cricket team, nicknamed the Black Caps, are the national cricket team representing New Zealand. They played their first in 1930 against England in Christchurch, New Zealand, becoming the fifth country to play Test cricket. It took the team until 1955–56 to win a Test, against the...
, Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, 1985–1986
Last ODI: vs Pakistan
Pakistani cricket team
The Pakistan cricket team is the national cricket team of Pakistan. Pakistan, represented by the Pakistan Cricket Board , is a full member of the International Cricket Council, and thus participates in , and cricket matches....
, Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
, 1991–1992
- Marsh's best ODI batting score of 146 not out was made against New ZealandNew Zealand cricket teamThe New Zealand cricket team, nicknamed the Black Caps, are the national cricket team representing New Zealand. They played their first in 1930 against England in Christchurch, New Zealand, becoming the fifth country to play Test cricket. It took the team until 1955–56 to win a Test, against the...
, ChandigarhChandigarhChandigarh is a union territory of India that serves as the capital of two states, Haryana and Punjab. The name Chandigarh translates as "The Fort of Chandi". The name is from an ancient temple called Chandi Mandir, devoted to the Hindu goddess Chandi, in the city...
, 1987 World Cup1987 Cricket World CupThe 1987 Cricket World Cup was the fourth edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup tournament. It was held from October 8 to November 8, 1987 in India and Pakistan — the first held outside England. The format was unchanged from 1983 except for a reduction in the number of overs a team played from 60... - He captained Australia in four ODIs, winning three and losing one
First class cricket
Marsh scored 11,760 runs at 39.46, with 33 centuries.- His 355* for WA v SA in Dec 1989 is the 28th highest score in first class history, and the 10th highest by an Australian.