Marsh's memorial in tune with cricket's spirit

As Paul Marsh – Rod Marsh's eldest son – noted at the unveiling of the Adelaide Oval memorial honouring his father on Thursday, the event's greatest poignancy came in knowing how dearly his late dad would have loved being there.

Not so much to see his name and his contribution to cricket immortalised at the ground where he came to forge his most enduring association with the game (even more so than in his native Perth), but because of the social activities that accompanied the ceremony.

There was the presence this morning of former Australia teammates including Ian and Greg Chappell, the skippers Marsh played under for most of his 96 Test appearances between 1970 and 1984.

Image Id: B6C934EB362A4D73ABEB600FA327D6A0 Image Caption: Loved ones of the late Rod Marsh at the memorial unveiling on Thursday // SACA

Also in attendance were members of the Australia cricket academy's class of 1994, which included his second son (Daniel), who are holding a reunion in Adelaide with Paul Marsh noting his father "would be spewing he's not here to catch up with you".

But perhaps Rod's greatest sorrow might have been missing the chance to chat with the lineage of Australia Test greats who have succeeded him in the role of Test team song master, with the responsibility of leading the rowdy chorus of 'Under the Southern Cross' that crowns every win.

Marsh had been introduced to the four-line verse – etched into the slate at the memorial meeting place unveiled prior to play beginning in the second NRMA Insurance Test today – by Ian Chappell, who had learned of it during a playing stint with Ramsbottom in England's Lancashire League in 1963.

The poem has been traced back to a late 19th Century Australian song entitled 'Heart to Heart and Hand to Hand' and had been variously adapted by varsity sports teams and military units before Chappell learned of it via another expat Aussie playing cricket in the UK, Raymond Hogan.

As legend has it, Marsh first performed the chant as a team victory cry after Chappell's men won the opening Ashes Test of 1974-75 at the Gabba, a summer where they went on to reclaim the urn inspired by the bowling deeds of Jeff Thomson and Marsh's long-time teammate, Dennis Lillee.

Underneath the Southern Cross I stand,

A sprig of wattle in my hand,

A native of my native land,

Australia, you f***ing beauty!

When Marsh retired in 1984 – the same day as Greg Chappell and Lillee called time on their Australia careers – the song master role was passed to David Boon, who in turn bequeathed it to Ian Healy, then Ricky Ponting, Justin Langer, Mike Hussey and current chorus leader Nathan Lyon.

Ponting, Hussey, Langer and Lyon were among the crowd who gathered at Adelaide Oval three hours before play began between Australia and West Indies today, to honour and remember Marsh who passed away in March this year following a heart attack.

The Rod Marsh Spirit of Cricket Wattle Meeting Place is located at the rear of the Sir Edwin Smith Stand on the venue's western side, and designed to celebrate the former Test keeper's philosophy more so than his on-field exploits.

As an avowed entertainer who believed profoundly in promoting young players and fresh ideas, Marsh is memorialised by a wall that displays a famous photo of him launching himself to take an airborne catch during the 1975 World Cup at Headingley, framed by a litany of cricket's most recognisable jargon.

A plaque recounts the story of his journey as player, coach, administrator, selector and – ultimately – SACA board member, while a pair of bronzed keeping gloves sit on a sculpted bench seat in silent testament to his primary skill.

Former SACA president Andrew Sinclair, who led the push for the funding and finalisation of the project, went so far as to seek the insights of former SA keeper (and ex-Australia coach) Tim Nielsen on how those gauntlets should be best presented.

"We wanted an image that was as if Rod had walked off the ground at the end of the day's play, put down his gloves and then gone for a drink," Sinclair said today.

"(In the original design) the bottom glove was face down, and I looked at it and thought I'd better see what Tim Nielsen thinks.

"He said 'I don't know why, but I wouldn't put the face of my wicketkeeping glove on a seat with chewing gum or whatever (potentially there) - I would have the face of the glove up with the back on the seat, and the other one facing (in)'."

That's how the finished product now appears, and was today viewed by the thousands of SACA members who tracked between the Village Green hospitality space immediately adjacent to the playing arena, and the middle where Australia's batters were also enjoying themselves.

But there is one striking element of the meeting place that doesn't quite fit the original design specifications.

The tree under which the seat has been installed is not a wattle, as per the second verse of the team song, but rather a crepe myrtle which was chosen for reasons of aesthetics rather than authenticity, with the warm approval of Marsh's widow, Ros.

"The wattle is not necessarily an attractive tree – they're a bit straggly, and flower in August-September," Sinclair said.

So the arborist enlisted to help with the design suggested a crepe myrtle, at which point Ros Marsh revealed she and her husband had only recently planted a pair of them at their home in Adelaide, where they spent more years than they had lived in Western Australia.

"Some things are meant to be," she told Sinclair upon learning of the switch.

There is a wattle presence, with the 'knife blade' ground-cover version of the national floral emblem planted beneath the feature wall, and the area also bordered by a red and white tessellation of tiles that invokes the seam of a Test match cricket ball.

The memorial was largely funded by public donations and through ventures such as the sale of 95 (the number of c Marsh b Lillee dismissals) magnums of 2021 Bleasdale shiraz signed by Lillee at the cost of $355 (total Test dismissals for both men) apiece.

But in putting together a proposal to install the $200,000 memorial, Sinclair also sought the help of the Australian Cricketers' Association which jumped at the opportunity to jointly underwrite any funding shortfall.

"Andrew rang me about it, and I'm very good at recognising a compellingly good idea when I hear one," ACA president and former Australia Test keeper Greg Dyer told cricket.com.au today.

"So we jumped all over it, and said we would co-underwrite it.

"We made sure that at least 50 per cent of it was coming from the players, because it's important to the players and it's a significant thing for Australian cricket players, current, past and future.

"It came about from the terrible circumstance of the loss of one of our greats, but from that has come something that is a legacy that will last for a long, long time which is a really good thing, and which is relevant more broadly to the Australian cricket community.

"And I would say that having a memorial which is central to Australian cricket, and with a wicketkeeper at the centre of that, is an entirely appropriate thing."

Paul Marsh, a former chief executive of the ACA, was moved close to tears at today's ceremony that was also attended by his youngest sibling, Jamie, Rod Marsh's older brother Graham, a former international golf professional, and extended family.

Paul noted that in addition to his dad's remorse at having missed today's reunion, Rod Marsh would take great pride in the permanent link that now exists to honour his playing achievements and his adherence to the game's spirit.

"He obviously played the game the right way, he coached in the same manner, and he led the game in various roles bringing on young people and making them better," Paul Marsh said.

"I hadn't seen this (memorial) until 15 minutes ago, and I'm completely overwhelmed by it.

"I look forward to seeing what it looks like at about 10 o'clock tonight when it's got about 20 drunks lying on it, which is probably what I would have been doing 20 years ago."

Should Australia clinch victory in the second NRMA Insurance Test against the West Indies and thereby seal a 2-0 series clean sweep, there's also a strong chance the memorial will host 11 euphoric cricketers belting out the well-worn refrain of 'Underneath the Southern Cross'.

Since Rod Marsh instituted the team anthem almost 50 years ago, the song masters have taken the role to new heights and novel locations, including the historic Dutch fort at Galle in Sri Lanka (led by Langer) and Adelaide Oval's heritage-listed scoreboard (under Hussey's direction).

As the current keeper of the song, Lyon has not ventured far beyond either the inner sanctum or the field of victory to lead the celebration ritual.

But with no more than 20 metres separating Australia's Adelaide Oval dressing room and the new Rod Marsh Spirit of Cricket Wattle Meeting Place, an impromptu rendition in a public setting would prove a fitting finale.