First impressions not a true sign of the Rodney Marsh I came to love

When thinking about the loss of my great friend Rod Marsh, I agree with Franz Kafka who said, “first impressions are always unreliable”.

Rod and I first crossed paths at a schoolboy carnival in Brisbane when he was 13 and I was 12. We were still in short pants. He represented Western Australia and I was representing South Australia.

I didn’t play in our game against Western Australia, but I still have a vivid memory of my first impression of the WA wicketkeeper whose shorts were a tad too tight, his shirt hung out and his hair was long and scraggy under his black cap. On top of that, he yapped all day. I didn’t warm to him at all.

I didn’t think any more of him until we played against each other in a Sheffield Shield match at Adelaide Oval seven years later. Initially, I didn’t tie the solidly built cover fielder to the chunky lad that I had seen, and heard, at Queensland University Oval half a lifetime before … until he started chatting.

I wasn’t there long enough to notice him in the first innings, but as my second innings wore on, I couldn’t help but notice the non-stop chatter as he crossed the pitch between overs. He was hard to ignore.

From left: Rod Marsh, Greg Chappell and Dennis Lillee during their last Test for Australia.Credit:Paul Mathews

Rodney never spoke a word directly to me, he just spoke about me to anyone within earshot. None of it was complimentary or welcoming. His belligerent attitude and non-stop chat only served to reinforce my initial impression.

Apart from the time we spent in each other’s dressing room after a day’s play for the next few years, we didn’t really cross paths until we were both selected in the Australian XII for the first Test in Brisbane two years later. I had been on the fringe of the team for a few years, but Rod was a bolter selection to replace his predecessor, Brian Taber.

The Queensland spectators were unhappy that Rod had been selected over local favourite John Maclean, and they let him know. The fact that Rod had a nightmare start, which prompted Ian Chappell to dub him “Iron Gloves”, didn’t help him settle in.

Thankfully, Rod went on to show why he had been selected. He was an exceptional wicket keeper and a very talented lower order batsman who could change a game with his swashbuckling style. As I got to know him better, on and off the field, my respect for him as a person and a teammate changed 180 degrees.

Rod was a formidable enemy, but he was the ideal man to have on your side when the battle was at its hottest. Rod didn’t know how to take a backward step and his courage and gung ho attitude inspired his teammates on many occasions.

Rod was a formidable enemy, but he was the ideal man to have on your side when the battle was at its hottest.

Over the years Rod and I roomed together where we got to know each other very well. His unfailing good nature and an appetite to enjoy all that life had to offer endeared him to all but his opponents. We joked at one stage that we had slept in the same room together more often than we had with our wives. In the first decade of our married lives, we worked out that we had effectively been away from home for five-and-a-half years.

I was 12th man in that Brisbane Test before playing my first Test in Perth. Dennis Lillee joined us in the sixth Test of the series in Adelaide. The interesting point to note is that Dennis took five wickets in the first innings of that Test and, despite three of the wickets falling to catches behind the wicket, none of them were caught Marsh, bowled Lillee. That all began when John Hampshire edged one in the first innings of what became the seventh Test of the series in Sydney.

Some of my favourite memories of Rod revolve around his batting. His swashbuckling 91 in a losing cause at Old Trafford in the first Test of the 1972 tour of England and his 44 not out in a partnership of 71 with Paul Sheahan got us across the line in the final Test at The Oval to draw the series 2-2 in what was a turning point for Australian cricket at the time. The scene of Rod and Paul cavorting in excitement as they ran from The Oval, with Rod swinging his bat over his head, will stay with me forever.

The other great memory is of Rod becoming the first Australian wicket keeper to make a Test century against Pakistan in 1972. It could have happened a few months earlier against England, in Melbourne, but our captain, Bill Lawry, declared on him when on 92 in the first innings of what was an ultimately drawn Test match. If Rod was upset by Bill’s action, no one would have known it from his reaction at the time or since. He understood why Bill did it and accepted it as the good team man that he was. His third Test century in the second innings of the Centenary Test was another highlight.

Rod Marsh, left, with Shane Warne, right, at Old Trafford in 2013. Credit:Ryan Pierse, Getty Images

Rod was a great support to Ian Chappell throughout his captaincy and was my deputy during my time as captain. The one thing that you could count on from Rod was honest feedback. He once told Ian that he was an idiot, or words to that effect, when he had two spinners bowling on a green seamer at Old Trafford in 1972.

Had Rod ever captained Australia, I believe he would have done it extremely well. But it seems that World Series Cricket marked his card, ludicrous as that was, and as I said in my recent book Not Out.

“I challenged the ACB chairman Phil Ridings about this view. ‘Why won’t you make Rod captain of Australia?’ I asked him. Ridings made various points in response, but the two that have stayed with me were that Marsh had been a part of WSC and that he was also too close to Ian Chappell! All I could say to that was, ‘Well I played WSC, and I’m Ian’s brother, how much closer can you get?’

“I always felt that had they made Marsh captain at some point after I first stepped down in 1981 for the away Ashes series, the ACB would never have needed to reappoint me. Instead, Kim got the job, as he did again when I did not tour Pakistan in 1982. Had Marsh been captain, in time, perhaps after the 1985 Ashes tour, Kim may well have been ready to succeed Rod with a younger team.”

Rod Marsh, centre, addresses players during an Australian Nets Session at The County Ground in 2015. Credit:Ryan Pierse, Getty Images

Rod was an ornament to the game in his playing days, but I think his post-playing career may have surpassed even that. Following a stint at the Australian Academy, Rod had time at the helm of the England Academy and was inaugural head coach at the ICC Academy in Dubai. He was a wonderful coach and mentor who positively impacted many lives and careers across generations. He was a selector in England and Australia, where he became chairman of selectors.

Rod was popular with Australian cricket fans when he played because of the wholehearted enthusiasm with which he took the game on. He never took himself too seriously, but no one loved winning more than he did, or hated losing as much. Most Australian cricketers would have died for the green cap, but, if necessary, Rod would have killed for it.

As a teammate, he was loved and respected for the same reason. Win or lose he celebrated with the same enthusiasm, but his rendition of “Underneath the Southern Cross I stand” when we won was spine-tingling because of the emotion that he poured into it.

He has a legion of friends in Australia and around the world who will be hurting at the moment and will be reflecting on a quintessential, honest, down to earth Australian legend.

Our thoughts are with his wife, Roslyn, his three boys, Paul, Dan, Jamie and their families, who will be buoyed by the love and affection that is flowing their way.

RIP Rodney.

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