Shocked by his national one-day snub, Mitch Marsh has sent selectors a not-so-subtle message with a fighting Sheffield Shield century in a remarkable Western Australian fightback against Queensland in Brisbane.
Test allrounder Marsh regained his batting mojo with a stirring 151, as the Warriors reached 7-450 in their first innings at stumps on Monday's third day at Allan Border Field, grabbing an unlikely two-run overall lead.
Warriors captain Marsh - dropped on Sunday on 41 - shared a 185-run, sixth-wicket stand with Will Bosisto, unbeaten on 132. It is Bosisto's highest first-class score and only his second ton.
Marsh showed no sign of the poor form that plagued his recent Test series against Pakistan and led to him being overlooked for Australia's one-day series against South Africa - much to his surprise.
Asked if his ODI snub was a shock, Marsh said: "Yes, I guess it did (shock).
"But I accepted that there were reasons for it. I want to be playing as much cricket as I can for Australia and, to do that, I need to be making runs.
"I had a poor series in UAE and they went with a different (ODI) option. I took that on the chin - all I can do is enjoy the game, make runs."
Marsh brought up his 10th first-class century with a classic cover drive to the boundary.
And he notched 150 in style by thrashing Test batsman Marnus Labuschagne (2-82) for six.
But he fell to the part-time spinner a couple of balls later, caught at point to end his epic 301-ball knock that featured 19 fours and four sixes.
Bosisto, 25, maintained the rage with his 312-ball innings which featured 18 fours.
It was a stunning comeback by WA who at one stage were reeling on Sunday at 3-42 in reply to Queensland's 9(dec)-448.
Shane Warne was among Marsh's harshest critics after the allrounder's series against Pakistan, saying the 27-year-old had no place in the Test team.
The knives were out for Marsh ahead of the Test series against India starting next month after scratching together just 30 runs at 7.50 in the 1-0 series loss in the UAE.
He was relegated to Shield duty to find form after surprisingly being overlooked for Australia's ODI series against South Africa.
However, he looks set to retain his Test spot after launching a stirring WA fightback.
"From the position we were in, with the team in a bit of trouble, it is my job to stand up in those moments, and I was pleased I was able to do that for the team," Marsh said.
WA resumed on Monday at 5-159.
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