Almanac Cricket – From Walters to Marsh: A brief history of the Australian No. 6

Amidst the shambles that has been the WACA Test for Australia there have been numerous questions about Mitch Marsh’s place in the team. Batting at No. 6 for 18 tests now and averaging 23 with the bat and 37 with the ball, those questions are reasonable. With 21 innings, Marsh is now 8th on the all time list of the highest number of innings at No. 6 without a century, behind Gus Logie’s 52. He is second of Australians behind David Hookes’s 23 (noting Hookes averaged 33 at No. 6).

So, what is the history of the No. 6 position in Australian cricket? Is the current situation to be expected or an outlier? Only nine Australians have scored more than 1000 test runs batting at No. 6 – the lowest of the top 6 positions. For the most part in Australia it is a transitory batting position, not a destination; batsmen who can roll the arm over and contribute to the team’s attack. What follows, based on those nine players, is a brief history of the No. 6 in Australian test cricket.

 

1965-1966, 1972-1977, 1980-1981 – Doug Walters
Tests batting at No. 6 – 34
Runs contributed per match at No. 6 – 54.97
Average – 47.92
Centuries – 6

As a No. 6, Dougie came flying out of the blocks with 155 against England in Brisbane in 1965, despite David Brown’s impressive figures (and name) of 3 for 71. Walters shared stands of 187 with Bill Lawry and 119 with Tom Veivers on the way to a rain affected draw. His finest hour came in Christchurch in 1977 with 250 runs against New Zealand. Across his 74 Test career Walters took 49 wickets at 29.08 with his medium pace and 43 catches. He did very little bowling after 1975 and up to that point had 48 wickets in 57 Tests. More than handy.

Other No. 6s – Ian Chappell, Tom Veivers, Keith Stackpole, Paul Sheahan, John Inverarity, Greg Chappell, Ross Edwards, Rod Marsh, John Benaud, Ian Davis, Gary Cosier, Graham Yallop, David Hookes, Richie Robinson, Peter Toohey, Bob Simpson, Trevor Laughlin

 

1978-1984, 1992-1994 – Allan Border
Tests batting at No. 6 – 48
Runs contributed per match at number 6 – 53.25
Average – 52.16
Centuries – 6

Border has reasonable claims to being Australia’s best No. 6. In 48 tests across 17 seasons he built a formidable record in the middle order. In something that might encourage Mitch Marsh, it took AB 12 innings to register his first century in that position. But he made it count with 150 not out and then 153 in the second innings against Pakistan in Lahore in 1980. Border had stints back at No. 6 late in his career as Steve Waugh made his first tentative steps as a No. 5. Across his 156 Test career, Border took 39 wickets at 39 and a lazy 156 catches.

Other No. 6s – Phil Carlson, Dav Whatmore, Rick Darling, Dirk Wellham, Greg Ritchie, David Boon, Greg Matthews, Wayne Phillips

 

1987-1995 – Steve Waugh
Tests batting at No. 6 – 66
Runs contributed per match at No. 6 – 47.95
Average – 51.04
Strike Rate – 49.09
Centuries – 6

Billed as the next Doug Walters when he entered international cricket, Waugh is the most prolific Australian No. 6 ever with 3,165 runs. Longer than Border, it took Waugh until his 17th innings in the position to lodge his first century – a useful 177 not out in Leeds in 1989. He then followed that up with 152 not out and 21 not at Lords followed by 43 at Birmingham. At that point he averaged 393 in the 1989 Ashes series, so his 92 next up at Manchester dramatically reduced his series average. Across his 168 Test career Waugh took 92 wickets at 37 and 112 catches. However, during his period as a No. 6 he took 55 of those wickets – very similar to Walters.

Other No. 6s – Mark Waugh, Michael Bevan

 

1995-1997 – Greg Blewett
Tests batting at No. 6 – 18
Runs contributed per match at No. 6 – 56.89
Average – 39.38
Strike Rate – 43.83
Centuries – 2

What would you say about Greg Blewett’s stint at No. 6? Perhaps that he didn’t play against many teams with decent spinners. But before he moved up the order, Blewett started his test career at No. 6 with 102 not out against England at home in Adelaide in what ended up being a pretty poor loss. Thereafter, he shared the position with Ricky Ponting for a period. For whatever reason, like many Aussie No. 6s, Blewett’s best in the position came in Johannesburg with 214 in 1997, sharing a 385 run first innings partnership with Steve Waugh on their way to an innings victory. Blewett’s trundlers were used as a partnership breaker by Steve Waugh as he took 14 wickets at 51 across his career and nabbed 45 catches.

 

1995-2001 – Ricky Ponting
Tests batting at No. 6 – 34
Runs contributed per match at No. 6 – 58.5
Average – 49.72
Strike Rate – 50.44
Centuries – 7

Ponting was the incumbent Australian No. 6 from Boxing Day 1995 through to the 2001 test in Chennai, where a second innings elevation of Adam Gilchrist pushed him back to 7. Ricky quickly established himself in that role with 127 in Leeds in 1997, his personal highlight 197 against Pakistan at the WACA in Perth (following a pair in Hobart). With Justin Langer he took Australia’s first innings from a dodgy 4-54 to a dominant 5-381 – a match winning partnership. Another occasional trundler, Ponting took 5 Test wickets at 55 and 196 catches – an outstanding fielder.

Other No. 6s – Darren Lehmann

 

2000-2001 – Damien Martyn
Tests batting at No. 6 – 22
Runs contributed per match at No. 6 – 50.59
Average – 48.39
Strike Rate – 51.76
Centuries – 4

Martyn had a run as Australia’s No. 6 during the most imperious of Steve Waugh’s team’s years as Ricky Ponting moved up to No. 3. His finest innings both came against South Africa – 133 in Johannesburg in 2002 and a faultless 124 not out in Adelaide in 2001. Martyn moved up to No. 4 after this spell as Darren Lehmann had a brief go in the team. The least bowlerly of this bunch, he could nonetheless throw some medium pacers down, taking two wickets at 84 across his career and 36 catches.

Other No. 6s – Simon Katich, Martin Love

 

2004-2008 – Andrew Symonds
Tests batting at No. 6 – 24
Runs contributed per match at No. 6 – 42.67
Average – 34.13
Strike Rate – 66.06
Centuries – 1

Until recently Symonds has been the worst Australian batsman to spend significant time at No. 6. Of this list he most closely fits a description of bowling all rounder, taking 24 wickets at 37 in his 26 tests for Australia. As a No. 6 batsman, Symonds took 19 innings to record his first century with a devastating 162 not out in Sydney against India in 2008, sharing a 173 run partnership with Brad Hogg and 114 runs with Brett Lee, rescuing Australia from 6-134. Sadly Symonds’ involvement in the test will be remembered for other, more racist, reasons despite his 223 runs and three wickets, as a last over wicketfest from Clarke got Australia over the line.

Other No. 6s – Michael Clarke, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Watson, Brad Haddin

 

2009-2010 – Marcus North
Tests batting at No. 6 – 21
Runs contributed per match at No. 6 – 54.76
Average – 37.09
Strike Rate – 48.31
Centuries – 5

North spent his entire career at 6 despite a couple of nightwatchman induced drops to 7. Like Walters he came out firing with 117 on debut against South Africa in Johannesburg. His career lagged at the end with three ducks and two other sub 10 scores in his last 10 innings. Two 20s in the innings loss at the Adelaide Oval in 2010 were to be his final outings in the baggy green, controversially replaced by Steve Smith for the WACA Ashes test. North took 14 wickets at 42 with his competent offies and contributed 17 catches.

Other No. 6s – Steve Smith, Usman Khawaja

 

2011-2012 – Michael Hussey
Tests batting at No. 6 – 18
Runs contributed per match at No. 6 – 69
Average – 51.75
Strike Rate – 55.37
Centuries – 5

Other than a single stint at No. 6 in 2005 thanks to a nightwatchman appearance from Brett Lee, Mike Hussey crammed a highly effective 17 tests into a 15 month stay in the role. The particular highlight was an unbeaten 150 against India at the SCG in 2012. Although he was somewhat overshadowed by his captain’s 329, taking more than his fair share in their 334 run partnership. Despite not bowling as much as others in this list, Hussey still rolled the arm over with some regularity taking seven wickets at 44 across his 79 test career. Good set of hands, too, with 85 catches.

Other No. 6s – Matthew Wade, Phil Hughes, George Bailey, Joe Burns

 

2014-2016 – Mitch Marsh
Tests batting at No. 6 – 18
Runs contributed per match at No. 6 – 23.61
Avg – 21.25
Strike Rate – 51.70
Centuries – 0

Marsh reflects a new approach to the No. 6 position in the Australian test team. With half the number of runs per test compared to the others in this list, he does average more wickets per match with 1.5 at 37 a piece. Australia appears to have changed the position to that of a part-time batter and bowler. Marsh’s finest moment with the bat came in the first innings at Colombo this year with 53. It is hard to see the position is sustainable but it is also worthwhile noting Steve Smith averaged 25 in his 14 innings at No. 6.

 

So, there you have it – every Australian No. 6 (to have batted two innings in the position in a single Test), since Dougie Walters. While tradition is a poor excuse for most things, the Australian tradition for No. 6 is a batter that bowls a bit. Maybe Australia is waiting for a great all rounder but when he finally arrives for how long will he bat at No. 6?