Perth, Dec 9 (IANS): Australia’s fast-bowling all-rounder Mitchell Marsh has revealed that before the third Ashes Test at Headingley, captain Pat Cummins urged him to hit his first ball with the bat for a six if he wishes to do so.

In that game, Marsh made a run-a-ball 118 on his Test recall after nearly four years. “He said to me, ‘If you want to go and hit your first ball for six, and you’re feeling it, I want you to do it’. Ultimately, I’m probably not going to do that.”

“Although I’d love to be able to say after I finished playing that I hit my first ball for six in a Test match. But I guess that’s the reason I’m picked. I do play reasonably attacking these days, and Patty sees that as a strength of mine. He just wants me to go out there and enjoy it and have fun,” Marsh was quoted as saying by The Sydney Morning Herald.

The all-rounder is now in Australia’s squad for the first Test against Pakistan, starting from December 14 at the Optus Stadium. Marsh was also in praise of Cummins the leader, who’s won this year’s World Test Championship final, Men’s ODI World Cup and retained the Ashes in England.

“He’s a very close mate of mine, but he’s also a great leader within that group. And when you’re leader’s instilling that sort of confidence in you, it allows you to go out there and be a bit freer and enjoy being part of a team and contributing to wins,” he added.

Marsh has played a lot of BBL games at the venue for Perth Scorchers, but he is now on the verge of playing a Test in the 60,000-seater stadium for the first time, especially on a drop-in pitch.

“It’s amazing. West Australian fans have always been incredible to play in front of, and when the Scorchers play there, it certainly has a different feel to it. We’ve managed to pack out that stadium a couple of times over the last few years, and it’s always an incredible experience,” he concluded.