Sup folks! Welcome to Marcus Harris’ life. You score a truckload of runs in the first class circuit, grind your way to the international mix and then- You falter. That’s just a small part of the picture though.
Despite having 7752 domestic red-ball runs to lay back on, Harris hasn’t quite found his feet at the highest level. From 12 tests that he has opened in thus far, Harris averages an underwhelming 22. He is yet to touch the three-figure mark and for a majority of the ongoing ashes, he had been bang average. Therefore, coach Justin Langer’s constant backing of him has been questioned time and again.
Marcus Harris gets declared LBW, loses his cool
Everything i wrote above is nothing but the truth. Nonetheless, Marcus was still selected for MCG test opposite England. His int’l career was on the line for if he failed at his home ground, he’d be replaced by an in-form Usman Khawaja. He had been unlucky getting out to couple of brilliant fielding/bowling efforts in his previous two games.
So, it seemed like his luck will turn tide come the third test. But nah. Paul Reiffer wrongly adjudged him LBW during his first inning after Harris had played all over a stump lined delivery from Ben Stokes. He chose to challenge the umpire’s decision but hotspot technology didn’t favor what he thought.
The ball had passed very close to the bat before thudding onto his pads but still, there were no signs of an edge on the hotspot. Regardless, Real Time Snickometer came to his rescue and detected a massive inside edge. Umpire Paul had to overturn his decision but Stokes wasn’t too pleased with it. He later asked Harris if he actually had edged it.
“I wasn’t 100 percent sure but had a big mark on my bat. Thought it might have clipped both pads and maybe a little inside edge. Hotspot is f**king hopeless,” read Marcus’ reply to the query of England’s star all-rounder. Here’s the video of the same.
Marcus Harris' contribution to this Ashes. ?#Ashes #AUSvENG
— CricX ?? (@cricketagency) December 27, 2021
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Harris went to add another 40 runs to his then-score, ending up as Kangaroo’s top scorer with his 76 run knock. He was eventually undone by James Anderson but before that happened- Marcus Harris had already answered his critics with a top flight knock.