How a hug nearly cost the Marsh brothers

There was a moment, at the very outset of his bountiful batting union with his older brother, that Mitchell Marsh was transported back to his boyhood at the family's sports-obsessed home in Perth's outer suburbs.

Not so much the sight of Shaun - eight years, three months and 12 days his senior – in command of proceedings at the far end of the pitch, although that was reminiscent of many early duels when Shaun would bat and bat and bat until he finally tired of the 'contest'.

At which point the older sibling, with no interest in bowling even then, would belt the ball into a bush beyond the makeshift pitch on the lawn tennis court and call a cessation of play.

For Mitchell Marsh, yesterday evening's haunting reminiscence was much more primal.

Despite the Marsh boys' father, Geoff, serving as Australia vice-captain during a career that yielded 50 Test matches and 117 ODI appearances, Mitchell's batting hero when he was first developing his passion and proclivity for the game was his opponent in those lopsided childhood battles.

To the extent that, in trying to emulate Shaun's unrelenting dominance with the bat, young Mitchell experimented with altering his stance to that of a left-hander only to abandon it after several abortive attempts.

But upon getting to the middle of the SCG to join his brother (already past 50 and again showing ominously good touch), the younger Marsh found the going so tough against England's veteran seamers James Anderson and Stuart Broad as well as rookie leg-spinner Mason Crane that he briefly contemplated reverting to boyhood.

"I had to fight harder than I have all summer for my first 30 balls," Marsh junior recalled of the uncertain start that saw him face 20 balls to find his first run.

"I might as well have batted left-handed, that's what it felt like."

More than a day later and the pair basked in their mutual triumph, both scoring centuries in a morning session as one-sided as any match at Marsh stadium, they reflected on a rarity that transcends cricket's plethora of numerical quirks.

They became just the third set of brothers - after Ian and Greg Chappell (twice) and Mark and Steve Waugh - to achieve the double whereby both siblings celebrated a century in the same Test innings when their kin was at the other end.

Although, in the case of the Marsh brothers, that spontaneous show of family affection almost brought calamity and carried their captain Steve Smith, watching from the SCG dressing room, to the brink of apoplexy.

The first love-in, when Shaun caressed the fifth ball of the fourth morning to the extra cover rope to secure his second century of his most assured Test series, was a prolonged affair as Mitchell wrapped up his brother in a bear hug that threatened to outlast the match.

When Mitchell's moment arrived 45 minutes later the reciprocal embrace that Shaun applied as the pair crossed for a second run bore all the indicators of its predecessor but with a much heightened risk given the ball had not reached the boundary and was therefore still 'live'.

It was only when Mitchell pointed out the urgent need for both of them to return to release and scamper to safety that the danger was averted and Mitchell was able to embrace the moment, having disentangled himself from his sibling.

"That was my fault," Shaun explained at the close of day four, which sees Australia six wickets from completing a 4-0 Magellan Ashes Series win.

"I just wanted to give him a hug, and I saw him starting to celebrate and lost all concept of where the ball was and what was happening with the ball, and he sort of pushed me off and said 'you better get to the other end'."

Mitchell also attempted to explain the cross purposes that led to a potentially tragi-comic combination of a triumphant highlight being spliced with an indelible blooper.

"I pretty much went for the high-five and Shaun went for the hug, and we somewhere just parked in the middle and had a quick, split-second of panic," he said tonight.

Mitchell Marsh, who admits to being something of an annoyance to his older brother until a decade ago when he grew taller and wiser and saw Shaun as his closest mate, had already ridden a wave of emotion before the glory of the day's first over.

Having taken the single that saw his brother marooned at the non-striker's end with 98 against his name for the final five deliveries of the third day, Mitchell struggled to sleep last night and continued to feel responsible even as the pair shared an early morning ocean swim before play resumed today.

Despite their now-tight bond as brothers, they are essentially opposite character types with the reserved, publicity shy Shaun keeping to a minimum of vocal interaction on the field while his extroverted, engaging brother enjoys a bit of fun banter whenever the chance presents.

But he was on the end of one of those stern brotherly chats from his senior sibling on Saturday evening when, with an over remaining and the older brother on 97, Shaun knocked the first ball to mid-on and the pair ran a leisurely single.

At which point Shaun maintains he remained content to watch the final five balls pass from the non-striker's end having counselled Mitchell "don't do anything silly", although the younger Marsh believes the advice was more direct and included a warning not to be "an idiot".

That pointed piece of character assessment rang in Mitchell's ears until it was drowned out by the escalating chorus of 'boooo' that rose from the SCG crowd after each of the final five deliveries were tamely patted away and Shaun's chance of a final-over century stalled with the them.

"I felt pretty bad last night because I felt like I should have given Shaun his Steve Waugh (who scored his famous last-ball hundred in Sydney 15 years ago) moment at the SCG," Mitchell said.

"And then I spent the whole night just wanting him to get his hundred."

Which explains why today's first Marsh hug-fest was such an extended affair, and also sheds light on why Shaun was so keen to show his brother his genuine delight at his milestone after last night's chat.

Even though that second celebration could have potentially inflicted a deeper scar.

As it turned out, the only possible regret from a memorable day that the chalk-and-cheese brothers turned best friends might share is that their dad – whose sole Ashes century in Australia came at the Gabba when Shaun was aged three - wasn't at the ground to be part of the demonstrable joy.

That's because Geoff Marsh is still involved in the game that binds the family, and remains in Perth as part of the Scorchers set-up preparing for tomorrow's KFC Big Bash League game against Sydney Thunder.

Which will take place while his boys, the two great mates, are toasting their sizeable roles in Australia's already assured Ashes triumph.

2017-18 International Fixtures

Magellan Ashes Series

Australia Test squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Ashton Agar, Cameron Bancroft, Usman Khawaja, Peter Handscomb, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine (wk), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Jackson Bird.

England Test squad: Joe Root (c), James Anderson (vc), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Gary Ballance, Stuart Broad, Alastair Cook, Mason Crane, Tom Curran, Ben Foakes, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Ben Stokes, Mark Stoneman, James Vince, Chris Woakes.

First Test Australia won by 10 wickets. Scorecard

Second Test Australia won by 120 runs (Day-Night). Scorecard

Third Test Australia won by an innings and 41 runs. Scorecard

Fourth Test Match drawn. Tickets

Fifth Test SCG, January 4-8 (Pink Test). Scorecard

Gillette ODI Series v England

First ODI MCG, January 14. Tickets

Second ODI Gabba, January 19. Tickets

Third ODI SCG, January 21. Tickets

Fourth ODI Adelaide Oval, January 26. Tickets

Fifth ODI Perth Stadium, January 28. Tickets

Prime Minister's XI

PM's XI v England Manuka Oval, February 2. Tickets

Gillette T20 trans-Tasman Tri-Series

First T20I Australia v NZ, SCG, February 3. Tickets

Second T20I – Australia v England, Blundstone Arena, February 7. Tickets

Third T20I – Australia v England, MCG, February 10. Tickets

Fourth T20I – NZ v England, Wellington, February 14

Fifth T20I – NZ v Australia, Eden Park, February 16

Sixth T20I – NZ v England, Seddon Park, February 18

Final – TBC, Eden Park, February 21