New Delhi [India], December 8 (ANI): Mitchell Marsh has likely played his final first-class match for Western Australia (WA), casting serious uncertainty over his Test future, as per The Sydney Morning Herald.

According to sources familiar with the development, the 34-year-old informed his WA teammates after the Sheffield Shield fixture against Victoria on Sunday that he intends to step away from red-ball cricket at the state level. Although Marsh has indicated he will officially retire from the format at the end of the Shield season, it is highly unlikely he will turn out again for WA in first-class cricket.

Since 2019, Marsh has featured in nine Sheffield Shield matches for his state. In the recent game in Melbourne, where he was briefly considered by selectors as an option for the Ashes, he managed scores of 9 and 4. Despite this, the all-rounder, who debuted for WA against New South Wales (NSW) in 2009, is believed to have told teammates he is not shutting the door entirely on Test cricket and would consider a return if selectors come calling.

How that scenario would unfold, given his absence from Shield cricket, remains uncertain. Selecting Marsh for a Test despite no recent red-ball cricket would be unusual, though not impossible. Australia also have no Shield fixtures left this year, and Marsh will be tied up with the national T20 side ahead of the T20 World Cup when the domestic red-ball season resumes next year.

'We would be comfortable picking someone, and if you want to put a name to it, Mitch (Mitchell) Marsh, out of white-ball cricket if we felt like that was going to benefit the Test team,' Australia coach Andrew McDonald said in October, as quoted from The Sydney Morning Herald.

'He's the captain of the white-ball team. It's very hard for him to vacate and balance out Test preparation, if he was to be in the window for that,' McDonald added.

'We still haven't given up on Mitch Marsh's Test career,' he noted.

Marsh, who has battled several injuries over his career, appears resigned to the possibility that his Test career may be over. He has played 46 Tests for Australia since making his debut in 2014, the last coming against India in Melbourne in 2024. He was later replaced by Beau Webster for the Sydney Test earlier this year.

He has not played red-ball cricket since a difficult Border-Gavaskar Trophy campaign in 2024, where he registered only one double-digit score, a 47 across the series. This came after a remarkable comeback to the Test side during the 2023 Ashes, where he marked his return with a brilliant century. However, 2025 proved challenging for the all-rounder, as he ended the calendar year with 283 runs in 15 innings at an average of 18.60, with two fifties across nine Tests.

Overall, Marsh has scored 2,083 runs in 80 Test innings at an average of 28.53, with three centuries and nine half-centuries, and a best score of 181, alongside 51 wickets at 40.41. His unbeaten 118 at Headingley during the 2023 Ashes remains the standout moment of his Test career.

Australia will not play another Test match after this summer's Ashes until they host Bangladesh in August next year.

Across 122 first-class matches, Marsh has compiled 6,415 runs, including 13 hundreds and 29 fifties, and has taken 171 wickets. (ANI)