Australia have so far invested 15 Test matches in Mitchell Marsh, the fledgling allrounder. Over that time he has shown glimpses of a match winner, broken up by rather more passages that have shown a 24-year-old cricketer still learning his game and those of others around him. In Sri Lanka, there is hope that the investment may be about to mature.Moulding an allround cricketer of high class can take a long time, and history is dotted with examples of exactly how much. After 15 Tests, Steve Waugh averaged 29.68 with the bat and 35.38 with the ball. At the same juncture, Andrew Flintoffs averages were 20.08 and 40.31. Marsh, at 23.00 and 34.52, sits somewhere in between. Perhaps the source of most discontent is that his highest Test innings, a very fine 87 against Pakistan, dates back to his second Test in 2014. His bowling appears to have progressed more thoroughly than his batting. On the recent West Indies ODI tour, Marsh was given a more central role at times by his captain Steven Smith, and rewarded that faith. Promoted in the batting order against the West Indies, he responded with a cool-headed 79 not out opposite Smith to steer Australia into the tournament final. When the decider arrived, it was Marshs impactful 3 for 32 that wrecked the hosts chances of a successful chase. Those memories remain at the forefront of his mind.The biggest thing for me is confidence and going out there and playing my natural game, Marsh said in Kandy. I took a lot of confidence out of the West Indies tour because the conditions were quite similar to what were going to face here, it was hot and the wickets were quite slow and turned a little bit. I took a lot out of that.There will be added responsibility for Marsh in Sri Lanka should the selectors opt for the kind of configuration suited to the dry and turning wickets they expect. A place at No. 6 in in the batting order will be allied to a commission as third seamer, with the need to bowl tightly while also looking for wickets. In his first two Tests in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Marsh struggled to ask questions of the Pakistani batsmen but has since added pace, reverse swing and cross-seam variations to his armoury.Thats probably the only thing that will change, Marsh said of the potential for longer stints at the bowling crease behind the likely new-ball pairing of Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood. Maybe bowling longer spells earlier in the innings, trying to work the ball and create some pressure for when the spinners come on and do their business.The more Test-match cricket you play, you get a lot of flat wickets where the ball doesnt generally do a lot, so youve got to work out ways to get the ball doing something. Thats something Ive worked on over the last 18 months to be able to get wickets for the team. Hopefully Ill be able to work on reverse swing over here and get a few wickets for us.As a batting collective, the Australians are devoting their preparatory energy to the idea of spending long periods of time in the middle, showing patience and not allowing Sri Lankas spinners or pacers to goad them into errors against in and out fields. For Marsh, this is the area where he has the most improvement to make. Since that double of 87 (161 minutes, 116 balls) and 47 (164, 130) in Abu Dhabi, he has never again soaked up 100 balls, or minutes for that matter, in a Test innings.We werent sure we were going to get much spin out of them in that game, but it was nice a few of us got to face a few overs against spin and it was nice to start against spin, because its probably going to be something Ill come up against in the Test matches, Marsh said of Australias tour game, where he made 25 from 38 balls. Probably the biggest thing here is if its turning just make sure you have a game plan and stick to it from ball one no matter what. All about being as sharp as you can.Ive done a lot of work in the nets over the last six months playing spin and trying to improve that, so hopefully itll come out in the Test matches. Weve spoken about how if it is turning its going to be hard work no doubt about that, but its about having a game plan and really sticking to that, and having the confidence to go out there and play your game.At times, Marshs batting has shown a certain stiffness welcomed by spin bowlers, as he pushes out hard at the ball while also struggling to find a way to rotate the strike. He fared better at these skills in the Caribbean, and has also worked on developing a sweep shot as a way of fighting back against disciplined slow bowling in helpful conditions.Ive worked really hard on my sweep shot over the last few months so hopefully in these matches Ill be able to get it out, Marsh said. Especially if its turning, I think its a great weapon to have, if the balls turning too much and missing the stumps its a great weapon to have to try to mess up the bowlers lengths and do something different. And also get off strike, which is the most important thing. Hopefully Ill be out there long enough to play it.For 15 Test matches, Australia have looked upon Marsh as an emerging allrounder. By the end of this tour, the tourists hope is that the emerging prefix can be discarded. NFL Jerseys China . 10 Texas A&Ms offence dominated as usual against SMU. Wholesale NFL Jerseys China . Brad Jacobs and his Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., team took control of the game early. https://www.chinajerseysnfl.us/ . Pirlo limped out of Sundays 1-0 win over Udinese after just 13 minutes. Juventus says Pirlo underwent tests on Monday which revealed he has "a second-degree lesion to the collateral medial ligament in his right knee. Nike NFL Jerseys China .S. hockey team after paying his dues as an NHL general manager for more than three decades and giving up a lot of his free time to help USA Hockey. Nike NFL Jerseys Outlet ., and Rudi Swiegers of Kipling, Sask., took sixth spot on Saturday in pairs at the NHK Trophy ISU Grand Prix figure skating competition.As always the first round of the playoffs provides plenty of great hockey. Upsets, comebacks, late goals, great goals and great saves. The opening round had it all. As for the Jets there was plenty of attention paid to the Ontario Hockey League final, where Mark Scheifele was having a great championship series as Barrie and London battled. Scheifele missed game seven due to injury, as London scored the winning goal with one second left to advance to the Memorial Cup. London will join Portland, Halifax and host Saskatoon. Interesting father/son note – Saskatoon last hosted the Memorial Cup in 1989 with Tie Domi competing with Peterborough, here in 2013 Max Domi will compete with London. NHL scouts will love this tournament with the top three picks all in the event, those being Seth Jones, Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin. Plus a number of other top picks set to strut their stuff. Back to Scheifele, despite missing the last game he walked away with the OHL playoff scoring title going 15-26-41 in 21 games, to finish nine points ahead of Domi. Scheifele had back-to-back five point games in the final series, including a four goal game. Another Jets prospect will compete for CHL player of the year honours. Big Adam Lowry went 45-43-88 in 72 games with Swift Current and was named the WHL player of the year. And after signing with the Jets but not getting into any games, Jacob Trouba joined Team USA at the World Hockey Championships. All NHL teams, including the Jets, are now busy preparing their final lists in preparation for the NHL Draft, a one day event this year, set for June 30. (All day draft coverage on TSN and TSN 1290). Also on the “to do” list is to re-sign players like Zach Bogosian, Blake Wheeler and Bryan Little. During his post-season news conference, general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff talked about injuries to a number of players as the Jets battled for a playoff spot.dddddddddddd There was some concern that Evander Kane and Mark Stuart may require surgery, but it now appears rehab and some rest is all that is needed. Cheveldayoff talked about how everything was magnified due to a shortened season and all games in conference. Plus the importance of EVERY game, starting with game one, as the roller coaster season had the Jets jumping from winning the division to drafting near the top. Cheveldayoff also talked about perhaps having to create space on the roster for some of the young players. With good training camps Trouba and Scheifele will get serious looks. If they deserve to play at the top level, they will, and the opportunity is there. Another huge question is what changes will the Jets have to make in style of play with the switch to the Western Conference. “We knew it was eventually going to happen – us moving”, added Cheveldayoff, “We got bigger in preparation of the move.” So how much will that play into how the Jets draft, which players they want to re-sign and which players will they look at via trade and unrestricted free agency. So as you play arm chair general manager, keep that in mind. As you watch playoffs it is obvious the Western Conference is tighter checking, not as wide open and more physical. For fans, the move is exciting. A number of teams have yet to experience MTS Centre. Unlike the upcoming schedule where all teams will play a home-and-home series, that was not the case two years ago, and of course this past season saw no East-West play at all. Fans have not seen the Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames, Nashville Predators and Columbus Blue Jackets (The Blue Jackets did play a split squad pre-season game in Winnipeg). The 2013-14 schedule should be out around the middle of July, in the meantime enjoy the playoffs. ' ' '