Fraternal centuries make for a special day for the Marshes

Sydney (Reuters): It was understandable the Australian batsman Shaun Marsh got a bit carried away when his little brother Mitchell scored his century on the fourth day of the fifth Ashes test against England on Sunday.

It was not only that his sibling had been at the other end when he himself had reached the magic milestone at the Sydney Cricket Ground little more than an hour earlier.

Australia’s Mitchell Marsh is hugged by his brother and team mate Shaun Marsh after reaching his century during the fourth day of the fifth Ashes cricket test match. REUTERS 

It was perhaps as much as anything because only a few months ago, it looked highly unlikely that either brother would be wearing the baggy green against England, let alone playing key roles in a crushing series triumph.

Shaun, at 34 the elder by eight years, had been dumped from the test side for the seventh time and lost his central contract, while Mitch was struggling to find his way back into the international reckoning after a shoulder surgery.

It made their moment on a scorching hot Sydney morning all the sweeter and Shaun got so carried away he nearly ran Mitchell out as they completed the two runs that gave the younger brother his second test ton only a few weeks after his first.

“I pretty much went for the high five and Shaun went for the hug,” said Mitchell.

“We somewhere parked in the middle and had a quick split second level of panic and hugged again after that.”

Shaun was happy to take the blame.

”I think emotions sort of got the better of me and I just wanted to give him a hug,“ he said. ”I saw him starting to celebrate and sort of lost all concept of where the ball was and what was happening with the ball.

“Thankfully it all worked out. I was just really happy for him.”

All-rounder Mitchell’s first test hundred came after he was called into the team for the third Ashes clash in Perth and was a reward for the hard work he did on his batting after his recuperation from surgery.

“To be honest I really didn’t think I was going to play any part for Australia this summer,” he said.

“It’s been a whirlwind month for both of us really and we’re just both really happy to be here now and to be contributing to a winning Australian team.”

Shaun’s recall for the series was his eighth and caused huge controversy, the selectors being vindicated when he scored an unbeaten 126 in Adelaide.

“Six months ago I lost my contract and was left out of the test team and didn’t know what the future held at this level,” he recalled.

“I went away and wanted to just enjoy myself and when I did get picked again it was emotional.”

Shaun’s 156 on Sunday was his sixth test century and, combined with Mitchell’s 101, helped put Australia in a strong position to claim a 4-0 series victory on the final day on Monday.

Neither brother, though, was prepared to consider yet whether they might retain their places for the tour of South Africa later this year.

“It’s been nice contributing to the team over the last few weeks and today,” said Shaun. “I’ll just keep working hard, keep enjoying it, and not look too far ahead.”

Cook becomes sixth batsman to score 12,000 test runs

Sydney (Reuters): England’s Alastair Cook became the sixth batsman to score 12,000 test runs with a single off his pads after lunch on the fourth day of the fifth Ashes test against Australia on Sunday.

The 33-year-old, who scored 244 not out in the fourth test in Melbourne last week, received an ovation from the crowd after passing the milestone in the third over of England’s second innings at Sydney Cricket Ground.

Cook, playing his 152nd test match, joined Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Jacques Kallis, Rahul Dravid and Kumar Sangakkara in accumulating 12,000 runs or more over his career.

Australia close on victory in Sydney test

SYDNEY, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Australia were closing on an innings victory with England fighting a desperate rearguard on 93 for four at stumps on the fourth day of the fifth Ashes test on Sunday, still 210 runs from forcing their hosts to bat again.

Brothers Shaun and Mitchell Marsh had earlier both scored centuries on a scorching morning at the Sydney Cricket Ground to put Australia in a position where they could declare on 649-7 in the second session.

England, already 3-0 down in the series with the urn relinquished, had toiled in the field in temperatures in excess of 40 degrees Celsius with little success and their luck did not change when they came out to bat.

Openers Alastair Cook and Mark Stoneman went cheaply inside the first six overs of their second innings with James Vince (18) and Dawid Malan (five) following in the final session.

Skipper Joe Root, who made an unbeaten 42 despite playing with an injured finger, and Jonny Bairstow (17 not out) will take England’s fight to save the test into the final day.