Mitchell Marsh has the potential to captain Australia, says Michael Clarke

Mitchell Marsh is set to make his Test debut against Pakistan on Wednesday

Current Australian captain Michael Clarke has earmarked 23-year-old all-rounder Mitchell Marsh as a potential future captain of the national team. Marsh is likely to make his Test debut against Pakistan in Dubai on Wednesday, and, undoubtedly, has a long international future ahead of him, especially with senior all-rounder Shane Watson being 33 and prone to long-term injuries.

Marsh, who made his ODI and T20 debuts for Australia in 2011, recently struck a magnificent double century against India ‘A’ in four-day cricket, and followed it up by scoring 222 runs from 5 matches for the senior team in the triangular series in Zimbabwe, where he also became the first batsman to smash 3 consecutive sixes off the bowling of Dale Steyn.

Maturity beyond his age

"I believe Mitchell Marsh can be a future captain of Australia," Clarke wrote in his News Ltd column on Tuesday. "That might sound like a big call for a bloke who only turned 23 on Monday and has yet to play a Test match. But I have toured with him quite a few times now and continue to be impressed with his talent, knowledge and game awareness.

"His cricketing maturity is at least five years ahead of the date of birth printed on his passport. I don't have any plans to give up the captaincy yet - there's plenty more cricket left in me - but I genuinely see Mitch as future leadership material. When he sets fields, you can see that he is thinking not from the bowler's perspective, but the batsman's.

"He is assessing conditions, the batsman's strengths and weaknesses and the opportunities to exploit the latter. And when he is batting, he is not one of those guys running around without a plan. He is thinking about how to construct an innings. I also love how much he cares about the team. If Mitch has a game in which he doesn't get among the runs or wickets, he always goes out of his way to congratulate those that have. He doesn't get lost in his own little world. He is all about the team."

Set to follow father Geoff and brother Shaun in playing Test cricket for Australia

Marsh, who sat out the lone T20I and ODI series against Pakistan after suffering a hamstring injury during the CLT20, will become the third member of the Marsh family, after father Geoff and brother Shaun, to appear in Test cricket for Australia if he makes his debut. They will consequently become just the third combination of a father and 2 sons to have played Test cricket; the Hadlees and the Amarnaths being the previous two.

"He has been exposed to overseas conditions, players and theories about the game from a young age," Clarke continued. "He's obviously got plenty of talent - he might just be the cleanest hitter of the ball for a bloke who can also bowl 130kph that I've seen - but his understanding of the game is well beyond his years.

"Assuming he's fit, Mitch is a big chance of earning his Test debut against Pakistan this week. Should that happen, you just know he'll be the kind of guy to treasure the baggy green. He has an extremely bright future."