Western Australia's all-time, all-format leading runs scorer has revealed how he knew his time was up after a decorated 22-year career at the top level
The moment that broke WA champion Marsh
Shaun Marsh was walking out of the gym at the WACA Ground last Tuesday when he knew his time was up.
His latest luckless injury – a broken finger in his only match for WA this season – had proved the final straw.
"I had a training session here on Tuesday and I batted for about 20 minutes before the quicks came over and I said to 'V' (Adam Voges), 'I'm done, I want to go and do my weights'," recalled Marsh.
"I went in and did my weights, and I probably did half my weights. I walked out and I thought 'that's not me'.
"And over the last 24 hours, it hit home that my time is done."
It was not just the broken finger; it was that it followed separate hamstring and calf injuries and off-season knee surgery that limited the 39-year-old veteran to that solitary Marsh Sheffield Shield appearance for his state in what would ultimately be the last of his 22 campaigns.
Image Id: 5AAD3FCBF500418F929C7E3478BFE396 Image Caption: Shaun Marsh departs in his final Sheffield Shield match // GettyIt ends a chequered career injury wise for the stylish left-hander born in Narrogin southeast of Perth, having battled back problems, calf injuries and broken bones that in part curtailed his 126 appearances at international level.
"Mentally, I'm cooked, and physically I'm cooked," said an emotional Marsh upon announcing his immediate retirement from first-class cricket on Friday afternoon.
"To break my finger … mentally, it's been a real challenge and it sort of broke me that one.
"Like I said to the guys (my teammates), I couldn't come into training anymore and look them in the eyes and say that I'm 100 per cent committed to what we wanted to achieve over the next two weeks.
"It's been a long time coming, this year in particular has been really hard.
"It wasn't the way I planned it after winning the Shield last year. I had great expectations of myself to win another Shield but through injuries and whatnot, it hasn't worked out how I wanted it to.
"But I'm still really proud of backing up again and coming back and trying to be a part of another Shield.
"I'm looking forward to the guys to do that over the next couple of weeks. I knew deep down inside of me that it was the right decision to make … for myself, this group and my family."
Image Id: FFCB851F5D00483FB25ECD906CFD7365Marsh finishes his career as Western Australia's most prolific batter of all time across the three formats, but he says it's the team success he had across a trophy-laden decade for WA Cricket that he'll remember most fondly.
"It's been an amazing journey, never in my wildest dreams did I think that I'd be here for 22 years and that's something that I'm very proud of," he said.
"The reason why I've played the game is to win championships and it started with the two BBL titles for the Scorchers (in 2013-14 and 2014-15) that were amazing.
"We hadn't won too much in WA for probably a decade and the celebrations that we had in those changerooms is something I'll remember forever.
"And the one-day titles that we've been able to achieve over the last seven or eight years, winning the Shield last year, they're the memories that I'll take with me.
"To be captain of the Shield team while Mitch has been away has been one of the proudest moments of my life, they're a terrific bunch of people to captain and to be around.
"Being able to celebrate my teammates and my family and seeing all the other families in the changerooms, that's what I've played the game for."
With the younger members of WA's star-studded squad having admired Marsh growing up and gravitated to him over the past few years to soak in as much of his experience as possible, the retiring great has been tipped for a post-playing career in coaching like his dad and former Australian opening batter and head coach, Geoff.
But he plans to let the dust settle on his retirement first to enjoy some more time with his young family (wife Rebecca and three children Austin, Mabel and Ted) while hopefully watching his teammates claim back-to-back Sheffield Shield titles in just over a fortnight.
Image Id: 24B78AF5474141A6938C80FC325AA48D Image Caption: Shaun and Bec Marsh with kids Mabel (left), Austin and Ted // Getty"I woke (Austin) up this morning because we had to be in here fairly early and said that daddy's retiring and he was OK with it," Marsh told reporters on Friday afternoon.
"I think he's excited that I'm going to be throwing a few more balls in the backyard with him now.
"My family have sacrificed so much to allow me to go and play the game that I love and I'm looking forward just to being at home and chilling out and being around for Bec and my kids.
"My dad, that's where I found the love of the game. As a young kid when I was watching dad play, all I wanted to do was be like him.
"It was certainly a highlight receiving my Baggy Green from my dad, scoring a hundred with Mitch and having that big partnership with 'V' in Hobart, those memories will last with me forever."
Image Id: 00ACCD48C3304EBAADE476541E69E455 Image Caption: Shaun and Mitch Marsh with their father, Geoff, who also played for Australia // GettyImage Id: 147758B231464508967066CE571FB128