Big Bash League: Mitch Marsh turns down rival offers to sign new three-year deal with Perth Scorchers

Perth Scorchers will on Friday announce West Australian cricket great Mitch Marsh has snubbed east coast interest to sign a new three-year deal with the franchise. The landmark deal for the club means Marsh will almost certainly remain a Scorcher for life. That’s in the face of strong interest from Melbourne Stars in the Australian Twenty20 captain this off-season. Marsh played just one game for the Scorchers in the Big Bash League earlier this year. He returned for a clash with Melbourne Renegades after he was dropped from Australia’s Test team during the summer. He then sat out a two-match trip to Sydney to rest, but it later emerged he had been battling a back issue that also kept him out of Australia’s Champions Trophy campaign. While dates for next summer’s BBL have not yet been locked in, The West Australian understands there are plans in place for a significant opening for international players to feature in the back-end of the tournament, before a white-ball tour of Pakistan and a T20 World Cup in February. “I’m really proud to sign on with the Scorchers, a team that I’ve played with since I was a kid and a franchise that has looked after me incredibly well,” Marsh said. “Being a one-club player was a big part of my decision, which was obviously quite an easy decision. “I think with the landscape of cricket these days, a lot of us play for a lot of different teams around the world and the idea of always coming home and playing for the Scorchers and hopefully finishing my career as a one-club player will be something I’m really proud of in years to come.” The 33-year-old was handed a fresh central contract with Cricket Australia and national selection chair George Bailey refused to put a pin in the all-rounder’s hopes of playing in next summer’s Ashes series. Marsh has been playing for the Justin Langer-coached Lucknow Super Giants in the Indian Premier League as a specialist batter and he is expected to make a call on his bowling future in coming months. Bailey’s comments are an indication Marsh could still feature for Western Australia in the early rounds of the Sheffield Shield next season. Left-arm quick Joel Paris returned to the Scorchers in February’s Big Bash free agency period, but Perth lost four-time champion Jason Behrendorff to the Renegades. Core players Ashton Turner, Ashton Agar, Josh Inglis, Aaron Hardie and Lance Morris are among those already on long-term deals with the Scorchers. Meanwhile, The West understands the Big Bash League draft — previously wedged into the AFL’s pre-finals bye in September — will be brought forward to June this year to allow clubs more time to make list management decisions. The Scorchers already have New Zealand import Finn Allen locked away for another season.