Spin tweaks key to Marsh's stunning success: Zampa

Mitch Marsh is making the case to be Australia's T20 No.3 even when their big guns return, believes Adam Zampa, who lauded the allrounder's improvement against spin bowling following another standout performance in the Caribbean.

The Western Australian has been the visitors' best player on what Zampa admitted has been a tough tour, saving one of the best individual performances of his international limited-overs career for the fourth T20I in St Lucia.

Marsh blazed 75 off 44 balls before returning 3-24 from his four overs, despite West Indies captain Nicholas Pooran revealing the powerful home side had made a concerted effort to target his bowling.

The 29-year-old was elevated to No.3 for the first time in his international T20 career due to the absence of a handful of first-choice players but, with a T20 World Cup coming up later this year, Zampa suggested he could make the position his own.

"I don't feel like that's inevitable (that Marsh will slide back down the order)," Zampa told reporters from St Lucia ahead of Saturday morning's (AEST) fifth and final T20I.

"I think three is a really good position for him.

"It's great to have options. We've got a lot of guys who bat high up in the order in the BBL and haven't quite taken the opportunity lower down the order. We are still after that power hitter.

"I don't think it's inevitable, but there are lot of really good players to come back in his position. I think 'Bison' (Marsh) is putting his hand up – that's all he can do really."

Marsh, who has known Zampa for more than a decade having captained him at Australia's most recent Under-19 World Cup victory back in 2010, asked the leg-spinner before the ongoing series how he thought he could improve his batting against spin.

Zampa admits he has previously considered the right-hander susceptible to the turning ball, and while impressive Windies spin duo Hayden Walsh and Fabian Allen have removed him in all four games so far, Marsh is the series' leading run-scorer with 189 at a strike-rate of 146.51.

With scores of 51 and 54 in the opening two matches to go with yesterday's 75, he would become the first player to score four half-centuries in a bilateral T20I series if he passes fifty again in the final game.

"Before the series started, he asked me how I thought he could get better playing against spin," Zampa said. "Usually with Bison, he's that one guy against spin where early in his innings you seem to worry about.

"But he's the one guy at the moment facing spin I'm really comfortable about. He worked on that before the series and it's paying dividends for him.

"He's had to deal with a lot of pressure which is probably unwarranted, I think.

"The Australian fans, media might put too much pressure on allrounders.

"I don't know if he's taken it to heart, but the way he trains – he smacks the ball – and I think he gets into habits of feeling that pressure early in his innings.

"But this series he's just gone for it."

Australia will continue to be without the likes of David Warner, Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis for the planned five-game T20 series in Bangladesh that follows next week's three ODIs in Barbados.

Keeping Marsh at first drop when Australia's stars return for the World Cup would likely mean pushing at least one of Matthew Wade or Steve Smith out of the top four.

Marsh has stressed he has not looked that far ahead.

"I'm certainly loving the opportunity to bat up the top of the order and as we've seen, batting against the new ball is the time to really get after it and the time to get ahead of the game," he said after Australia's first win of the series on Wednesday.

"I'm really enjoying the role but it is purely based – and we speak about it as a team, with the World Cup coming up – on playing a role.

"I'm 29 now and have had a lot of experiences, both good and bad, in international cricket.

"I came into this tour really well prepared, had a great break, feel in great physical shape and mentally feeling really good."

Qantas Tour of the West Indies 2021

Australia squad: Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Wes Agar, Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey, Dan Christian, Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques, Mitchell Marsh, Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Josh Philippe, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa. Travelling reserves: Nathan Ellils, Tanveer Sangha.

West Indies T20 squad: Kieron Pollard (c), Nicholas Pooran (vc), Fabian Allen, Dwayne Bravo, Sheldon Cottrell, Fidel Edwards, Andre Fletcher, Chris Gayle, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Evin Lewis, Obed McCoy, Andre Russell, Lendl Simmons, Kevin Sinclair, Oshane Thomas, Hayden Walsh Jr

T20 series
(all matches at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground, St Lucia)

First T20: West Indies won by 18 runs

Second T20: West Indies won by 56 runs

Third T20: West Indies won by six wickets

Fourth T20: Australia won by four runs

Fifth T20: July 17, 9.30am AEST (July 16, 7.30pm local)

ODI series
(all matches at Kensington Oval, Barbados)

First ODI (D/N): July 21, 4.30am AEST (July 20, 2.30pm local)

Second ODI (D/N): July 23, 4.30am AEST (July 22, 2.30pm local)

Third ODI (D/N): July 25, 4.30am AEST (July 24, 2.30pm local)

* Details of five-match T20 tour of Bangladesh are yet to be announced by the Bangladesh Cricket Board. Tours are subject to agreement on bio-security arrangements and relevant government approvals.