They say actions speak louder than words and on the first day of the final Ashes Test at the Oval, finally, for Mitch Marsh, he showed that they did. "At the start of last summer I lost a close friend to suicide and I didn't handle it as best I could," revealed the all-rounder, after his first Test this calendar year, before adding that "most of Australia hate me".

"No doubt I've had a lot of opportunities at Test level and not quite nailed it," said Marsh, who took four for 35. "Hopefully they can respect me for the fact I keep coming back and I keep trying and hopefully I'll win them over one day."

The first rule of international, professional sport is to maintain that you don’t need any extra motivation to perform at your best. It is your job and duty to give everything, all of the time. And yet, Jonny Bairstow appears to score tons only when former England captains publicly derogate him and England, well, they only win Tests after they’ve lost one first. And then there’s Marsh. A batting average of 25, a bowling one of almost 20 more and an Australian public which appears to hate him more than anyone does on this side of the equator. This was a man with something to prove.