Australia looking at Marsh as opener for Ashes; Decoding pros and cons of possible move

Mitchell Marsh for Australia - (Source: AFP)

In a significant development, there are reports that Cricket Australia are considering Mitchell Marsh as the opener for the upcoming Ashes. The five-match Test series between Australia and England is set to begin on November 21. 

The three Lions have already announced their squad, but the hosts are yet to finalise their 15-member list. Meanwhile, the reports also hint at possible bad news for the likes of Nathan McSweeney and Sam Konstas as Marsh is expected to open the innings with Usman Khawaja.

Meanwhile, this article will shed light on several topics, including Mitchell Marsh's statistics as an opener, the pros and cons of having Marsh as an opener, and the current issue the Australian side is facing at the top.

Mitchell Marsh's stats as an opener

The bison has featured in 40 Tests for Australia and amassed 2083 runs. However, in his 80 innings in red-ball cricket, the right-handed batter has never opened the innings for Australia. He has played most of his career at No. 6 and is now most likely set to make his Test comeback as an opener for the first time.

Let's look at Mitchell Marsh's stats in different batting positions. 

Pros and Cons of Mitchell Marsh as opener

Pros

• Mitchell Marsh is in some fine form and is enjoying the best phase of his cricketing career. Interestingly, his red-hot form is because of opening as seen during IPL 2025 and also with Australia in white-ball cricket.
• Marsh scored 627 runs in 13 innings in IPL 2025 and was the 5th leading run-getter in that tournament. Further, Marsh has amassed 671 runs in 17 innings in ODIs and T20Is combined in 2025 as an opener. Thus, him being in-form will help Australia.
• Another reason why Australia might benefit from having Mitchell Marsh at the top is to playing aggressive brand of cricket. With Khawaja and Marsh open, there will be contrast and a combination of fire and ice.

Cons

• One of the reasons why Australia are looking to test Marsh at top is most primarily because of his red-hot form, but also because of poor results from existing openers. Sam Konstas, who made his debut against India during 2024 BGT, was touted to be the next big thing, but hasn't lived up to his reputation.
• Marsh's style of play can also turn out to be a positive sign for England as his nature of aggressive cricket can result in easy wickets.
• Marsh has been out of touch in red-ball cricket and has not played a single game in the last one year.

Australia's growing concern with openers

Before diving deep into the article, it is also important to look at why the selectors are suddenly feeling the rush to bring in Marsh, who has not played Test cricket for so long. Let's look at Sam Konstas, Usman Khawaja and all other openers tried by Australia in the past year.

Since 2024 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Australia have tested four different opening pairs, which includes Konstas, Head, Labuschagne, and Nathan McSweeney with Usman Khawaja. 

Let's look at how these openers have performed since 2024 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. 

Conclusion

Australia are sweating hard on their openers form and need to quickly fixate on their top two batters rather than just experimenting, because the Ashes is not a stage for that. Meanwhile, England, on the other hand, are quite solid and clear that Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley will lead the charge for them. 

Having Marsh back in the side and that too as an opener seems more of a gamble than a assessed plan. Further, the Bison's recent remarks regarding Test cricket also hints that Cricket Australia are yet to communicate with him regarding their possible plans to include him in Test cricket.

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