The younger Marsh brother was named as the team’s vice-captain alongside Josh Hazelwood before Australia’s two Test series against Pakistan in the UAE earlier this month. Australia valiantly batted out the final five sessions to draw the first Test but were soundly beaten in the second match in Abu Dhabi.

On an individual level, Marsh endured a tough series, mustering up just 30 runs from four innings. Speaking about Australia’s difficult tour, Warne criticised the decision to give Marsh the vice-captaincy when his place in the XI, for Warne at least, is by no means guaranteed.

[caption id=”attachment_85500″ align=”alignnone” width=”800″] The Marsh brothers scored two centuries each during last winter’s Ashes series[/caption]

“I hadn’t thought even before that series that he had established himself in the team,” Warne said. “He’s done OK, but I don’t think he’s cemented his spot and that’s why it was a strange selection as vice-captain.”

“I haven’t thought even before that series he had established himself in the team. I think he’s done OK, but I don’t think he cemented a spot and that was a strange selection for me as vice-captain. “He needs to go and make some runs.”

Test side take 2 ! Thoughts followers ?

Finch (c)
Renshaw
Khawaja
Head
Maxwell
Paine (wk)
Stoinis
Cummins
Starc
Lyon
Hazlewood

— Shane Warne (@ShaneWarne) October 18, 2018

After 30 Tests, Marsh averages just 26.08 with the bat. During the second Test, Shane Warne posted a hypothetical Australian XI for their first Test against India later this year on Twitter and left both Marsh brothers out of his team.

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Mitchell’s older brother Shaun fared even worse with the bat, averaging just 3.50 across the series. Despite the struggles of both brothers, Warne backed their ability at the highest level. He added: “I’m a huge fan of Shaun and Mitchell Marsh. Just because they have a couple of bad Test matches there, suddenly you can’t remember all the good stuff that Shaun Marsh has done. Hopefully he gets a bit of an extended chance.”

“20 or 35, no matter how old they are. If you’re in form and you’re making hundreds, you play. I love what Shaun and Mitchell Marsh bring, but they need to perform.”