Indian summer sealed Marsh's return

Shaun Marsh's yo-yo Test career is set to continue in the third Test against New Zealand in Adelaide, with Australia coach Darren Lehmann saying the West Australian was picked as a replacement for the injured Usman Khawaja based largely on the runs he made in last summer's Test series against India.

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Marsh has been in and out of Baggy Green a handful of times already in his 15-Test career, most recently for the fourth Ashes Test in which he made scores of 0 and 2.

Preceding that he played five straight Tests against India and West Indies, the latter in the Caribbean as cover for injured opener Chris Rogers.

Lehmann said Marsh's half-centuries against the touring Indians last summer – he made 99 in Melbourne and then 73 in Sydney – put him at the front of the queue, ahead of fellow West Australians Michael Klinger and Cameron Bancroft.

"Obviously he was very close in the first Test selection (discussion)," he said. 

"It was touch and go with Uzzy (Khawaja) and Shaun Marsh.

"He played really well for us last summer, he got 99 in Melbourne and a got a couple of 50s in Sydney. We thought he played quite well in West Indies when he got his chance as well. He gets another chance to have a crack at Test cricket.

"He got some runs in Melbourne (64 and 33 in the recently-concluded Sheffield Shield game), which was pleasing to see. He gets first crack.

"He's been in and out (of the team) as well which makes it tough for him.

"He gets a couple of Test matches here and we'll see how he goes.

"He had great Matador form and obviously got some runs in the Shield. There's been a lot of speculation about Bancroft and Klinger – and they're both very unlucky as well. So Shaun gets his chance again."

Lehmann assured that 35-year-old Klinger wasn't excluded from considerations due to his age, despite the top-order batsman scoring a remarkable 14 centuries and trailing only Steve Smith and Kumar Sangakkara for runs worldwide in the past 12 months across all three formats.

Klinger's red-hot form for Western Australia, Perth Scorchers and Gloucestershire through that period, most recently highlighted by a stunning double of 202no and 50no in a Shield match against Tasmania, catapulted him into the selection frame, however the veteran has again been overlooked for the chance to make his international debut despite a superior first-class average to Marsh and the aforementioned weight of runs.

"I think (Klinger is) younger than (Adam) Voges isn't he?" Lehmann said. "So age doesn't go against him.

"There's been a lot of speculation, he's made a lot of runs. At the end of the day Shaun Marsh is – more recent in Test match cricket, (and he) has made a contribution, so that's the way we decided to go."