The Marsh brothers- Shaun and Mitchell, both of whom have polarized the opinions of many experts on their Test selection; shined brightly on the fourth day of the fifth Ashes Test in Sydney.
Both Shaun and Mitchell shared a record century stand and scored their individual centuries as well. The brothers added 169 runs for the fifth wicket and have basically batted England out of the game. Shaun scored 156 and Mitch, eight years his junior, made a sparkling 101.
They emulated the more famous Waugh twins- Steve and Mark Waugh, who added 197 at the Oval in 2001 Ashes. Marsh brothers also replicated the Waugh twins’ feat of scoring individual hundreds as well. They also emulated the Chappell brothers- Ian and Greg, who also scored individual centuries and added hundred runs together against West Indies in Bridgetown in 1973 and against New Zealand in Wellington in 1974.
The Waugh brothers also added 100+ runs and scored individual hundreds against West Indies in Kingston in 1995.
Shaun Marsh was unbeaten on 98 overnight and completed his century off the fifth ball of fourth day morning. He was eventually run out for 156 off 291 balls with 18 fours; after adding 169 runs with Mitchell, who scored 101.
BRIEF SCORES:
ENG 346 (J ROOT 83; P CUMMINS 4/80) & 93/4 (J ROOT 42*; N LYON 2/31)
AUS 649/7d (U KHAWAJA 171, S MARSH 156, M MARSH 101)
End of Day 4 - England trail by 210 runs with 6 wickets remaining