Shaun Marsh batted brilliantly in a T20 game before being picked. Your point?
Bradsmeade said: "Yeah cause white ball T20 crap is a good indicator for how he'll go at Test level." to which I replied that I'd said a similar thing (to what I said about Starc last night) about Ben Hilfenhaus, after seeing him bowl in a couple of T20's a month ago (to which I was reliably informed that it meant nothing, as it was "only" T20), which proves that while of course not a guarantee, it can in fact be a good indicator, because Hilfy has since gone on to bowl equally well in the tests. It can be a very good indicator, because a good delivery (and consistent good deliveries) mean you're bowling well, regardless of the format.
As for Marsh v Starc or Hilfy, I think it can be a bit of a different approach to batting, if not a very different approach. They are often going the tonk, including right from the first ball, whereas Starc and Hilfy were generally just bowling very good quick deliveries. The exact sort they would be bowling in a test match. And lets not forget Pat Cummins also got a test berth for Australia largely on the back of his bowling in T20's and ODI's in Sth Africa (where about half of his wickets were from slower balls), not on his first class average of 40 odd and that worked out OK from memory.
If Starc comes in and bowls the exact same sort of balls he was bowling last night to India, in Perth, we'll be laughing, whereas you probably wouldn't want someone to come in and bat the exact same sort of way in a test match that they've just batted in a T20 (as evidenced by Marsh, Haddin and Warner, who all made big scores in the Big Bash leading up to the first test and all got out cheaply in the following tests, looking like they were still largely in T20 mode.)
They weren't always trying to smash Starc around last night, either. Usman (who could easily still be in the test team) played and missed with regulation defensive shots to balls that swung away from him (and then edged one that he had a big go at- which went through the hands at 2nd slip) and Dan Smith was not quick enough to get bat on a ball that swung into his pad, trapping him LB. The exact sort of LB that got MJ so many international RH wickets when he was bowling/swinging it well and that could also get Starc a
lot of international wickets, in all forms.
