Robert Croft insists Glamorgan’s new overseas star Shaun Marsh will slog away any attempts to send him verbal bouncers over the Australian ball-tampering scandal.
Marsh arrives in Cardiff this week to begin his second stint with Glamorgan, fresh from the most contentious cricket tour for years – the Aussies’ ill-fated trip to South Africa which ended with three players banned for up to a year by their own governing body.
Marsh played no part in the incident which saw captain Steve Smith, vice-captain David Warner and batsman Cameron Bancroft – the three players behind the use of sandpaper to rough up the ball during the Test series against South Africa – suspended from international and domestic cricket.
But Marsh is the only Australia player from that controversial Third Test in Cape Town set to feature at the start of the new county season here.
Marsh’s brother Mitchell had been due to play for Surrey until he was ruled out for several months by ankle surgery, while Bancroft’s Somerset deal was terminated following his role in the scandal.
But Croft dismisses the suggestion Marsh will be ‘sledged’ on the field this summer in the wake of what happened in South Africa, saying: “It is not an issue for me.
“Shaun was not mentioned in any of that – and do you think an Aussie ever worries about chirping?
“But if he does get any of that I think he’s the type of chap to just stare them down.”
Marsh has signed a two-year contract as Glamorgan’s overseas player having previously played Twenty20 cricket for the county in 2012.
The 34-year-old, who has played 32 Tests, 53 one-day internationals and 15 T20 internationals since his Australia debut in 2008, has also represented Yorkshire in county cricket.
“I played with him in 2012 and I liked what I saw,” Croft said. “Shaun is a very talented, hard and determined cricketer.
“He is also at the height of his game right now. So we’re not getting someone at the back end of his career, he is here to make a difference on the field.
“He’s a chap of few words but someone you can learn a heck of a lot from just watching the way he prepares to go about his business and the tough nature he plays his cricket.”
Glamorgan, meanwhile, have confirmed that wicket-keeper-batsman Chris Cooke has signed a three-year contract extension to stay at the club until the end of the 2021 season.
Cooke, 31, topped Glamorgan’s championship batting averages in 2017 and has been appointed vice-captain for the 2018 campaign.
“I have thoroughly enjoyed the past seven years at Glamorgan and I am more than happy to commit my future to the club,” Cooke said.
“We have a good squad and if we can continue to build around the pillars of experience with the promising young Welsh talent coming through our development programme, we will have a bright future ahead.”