Relaxed Marsh reaps benefits

Shaun Marsh admits he thought too much about his cricket after the India tour

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Australia opener Shaun Marsh believes a more laidback approach to his batting is behind his fine form in the first two one-day internationals against South Africa.

After impressing with the bat in the Indian Premier League and as Australia's opener in the ODIs against West Indies last year, Marsh has endured a tough time with Western Australia of late as the runs dried up almost completely.

The 25-year-old admitted he had been mentally distracted since his return from India, where he served as a replacement for the injured Phil Jaques without making the Test side.

But Marsh revealed a combination of solid training and a few chats with WA coach Tom Moody and his father - former Australia opener Geoff Marsh - helped get the runs flowing again.

"Test cricket’s still the pinnacle for me and that's what I want to do - I want to wear the baggy green," Marsh said ahead of his departure to Sydney to join the Australia team for the third ODI on Friday.

“I probably thought about it too much when I got back from India from the Test series over there and it affected my game mentally.

"I've learnt a lot from it and hopefully I can learn from my mistakes and just concentrate on playing good cricket and making runs.

"I've done really well over the last 12 months so I just needed to come into my head for I knew I was doing the right things and I knew the runs were going to come eventually."

Marsh hit 79 off 97 balls in the first ODI at the MCG, although the Proteas triumphed by three wickets. He followed that up with 78 off 102 deliveries in Sunday's five-run win in Hobart to level the series.

"We didn't want to go 2-0 down in a best-of-five series," he added. "It was a fantastic win and it's given the guys a lot of confidence moving into Sydney.

"It'd be nice to push on and get that three figures that I dearly want on Friday and hopefully we can get another win on the board."