'You can either sulk or put on a smile' – Mitchell Marsh on being dropped

Following meagre returns with both bat and ball in the two Tests against Pakistan at United Arab Emirates, Marsh was left out of the XI for the Adelaide Test, despite scoring 151 for Western Australia in the Sheffield Shield.

Marsh then returned to captain Western Australia in the Sheffield Shield, but scores of 21 and 11 and just the one wicket wouldn't have strengthened his case for selection in the second Test at Perth, starting 14 December.

"I was obviously very disappointed to miss out in the first Test, but I understood the reasons why," Marsh told reporters.

"Ultimately, you've got two ways to go about it – cand enjoy the hard work, enjoy the challenge of getting back into that Test side.

"Every Test match you miss out on – it's shattering. I got plenty of messages of support. I cop a fair bit but I do have a lot of people who care about me and always have support for me."

Marsh's numbers with the bat in Tests have dipped significantly since his 96 against South Africa in Durban in Marsh. Since then, in 11 innings, he has failed to cross fifty and has been dismissed for two ducks, apart from five other single-digit scores.

Marsh insisted that his form with the bat hadn't been too bad, and pointed to his returns in domestic cricket. However, he admitted he should have made more telling contributions in the two Sheffield Shield games in lead up to the first Test – after the 151, he made scores of 1, 44, 6 and 30 before the first Test.

"I'd scored three first-class hundreds in my last six games," he said. "I still felt like I was in really good form and feeling very confident heading into last week.

"But ultimately, I still had two chances (in the Shield) before the Test match to put a big score on the board and I didn't do that. The message was clear – I needed more runs."