Mitch Marsh wants to help men process their emotions and better understand mental health

These days, Mitch Marsh is affectionately referred to as "Bison" by Australians.

A nickname coined by teammates due to the size of his head, and that has now taken on a life of its own beyond the inner sanctum of the Test side.

But, before his comeback in the 2023 Ashes series, this fun-loving larrikin was more commonly referred to as a cricketer who had been given way too many chances.

Marsh got his international start in white-ball cricket, impressing in T20Is and ODIs before making his Test debut in 2014, two days after his 23rd birthday.

It was a moment that felt like destiny, as his father Geoff and brother Shaun had already donned the baggy green.

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However, the early stages of Mitch's career didn't quite go the way he had hoped. Instead, it served as an important life lesson in the non-linear trajectory of success.

Across 42 Tests, he has averaged 30.45 with the bat — it has been an up-and-down experience. But now, at 33 years of age, he's better equipped to handle criticism than he was in the early stages of his career.

Maybe it was his family's shadow? Or simply the weight of expectation?

But in the beginning, as he struggled to find form, Mitch felt like public enemy number one.

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Dealing with the hate

When he took the field against Pakistan on Test debut, he had just turned 23.

The all-rounder tallied 30 runs across two innings batting in the middle order and was unable to find a wicket. His second appearance was much better, with scores of 87 and 47. But from there, it was a slippery slope. It took 16 Tests for Mitch to register another half-century.

It took the all-rounder seven Test innings to snare his first wicket.

Marsh is bowled by South Africa's Kagiso Rabada at St George's Park in 2018. (Reuters: Mike Hutchings)

Despite underperforming, he was regularly recalled to the national line-up across the next four years and fans of the game couldn't work out why.

The selectors were fiercely loyal and clearly saw something in him.

Sometimes that paid off, like when he scored two centuries in the 2017/18 Ashes.

Most of the time he lacked consistency and, as his and Shaun's Test careers overlapped, they became an easy target to point the finger at whenever things didn't go to plan.

People mistook unrelated selector Rod Marsh for their father and suggested they were getting a free ride because they were family.

Eventually in late 2018 — less than a year Mitch was dropped in all formats. At that time, he was also dealing with some personal issues, including the loss of a close friend to suicide.

In the final Test of the 2019 Ashes the selectors wanted to rest the quicks and an unlikely Marsh was given the nod ahead of Travis Head as another bowling option. (AP: Kirsty Wigglesworth)

A year on, in a one-off call-up for the final Ashes Test of 2019, Mitch acknowledged the overwhelming critique of his game with his typically self-deprecating sense of humour.

After taking four wickets and a catch on day one at The Oval he was asked to front the press.

"Yeah, most of Australia hate me," he said in jest.

"There's no doubt I've had a lot of opportunity at Test level, and haven't quite nailed it, but hopefully they can respect me for the fact I keep coming back and I love the baggy green cap.

"I'll keep trying and hopefully I'll win them over one day."

A second shot at Test cricket

Fast forward to the Ashes of 2023, where another shot at Test cricket came midway through the series due to a hamstring injury to Cameron Green.

As Mitch wandered out to bat at Headingley in the third Test, with the team in a tough spot at 4-85, onlookers were unsure what to expect.

We had seen this storyline before and frankly, it hadn't gone well. But this time, Mitch was a very different player.

Marsh celebrates after reaching 100 at Headingley in July 2023. (Getty Images: Stu Forster)

He had once again become a staple in the Australian white-ball set-ups and been named as the player of the final in their successful T20 World Cup campaign in 2021.

Mitch had found a new lease on cricket and four years of waiting on the fringes of the Test team had made him hungry to make an impact.

That day, he scored his third Test century, taking Australia well over the 200 mark before he was caught on 118. It's this aggressive approach — attacking the ball rather than looking to defend — that has played a big part in his transformation.

That, as well as lifestyle, fitness and mental changes, have helped him make steady contributions to cement his position back in the side.

So impressive is the comeback, it has seen him awarded the T20I captaincy and the 2024 Allan Border Medal, as the most outstanding Australian male cricketer for the past 12 months.

His speech at the Australian Cricket Awards — "I'm a bit fat at times and I love a beer" — was just as iconic as his "most of Australia hate me" line. And both, he admits, have been hard to shake.

Even so, we're curious to know if he finally thinks he's won over the Australian public.

"I hope so," Mitch told ABC Sport.

"That was a bit of tongue-in-cheek that ['most of Australia hate me'] comment, but it certainly snowballed into something bigger than I meant it to be.

"There's no doubt I've had my battles, but I persevered and now the last couple of years have been really fun … lately I've felt unbelievable amounts of love from the Australian public and I'm very grateful for that.

"I'm really proud of the fact that I never gave up … There were points where I really wanted to, but I had a lot of good people in my corner to not let me stop."

Using humour to get through

His wife Greta has helped him find perspective, as has time. It has been 10 years since his Test debut after all.

Mitch's ongoing ability to use jokes to defuse serious situations is another factor.

Something he learned from his late grandfather Ross, who passed in November last year and had an infectious zest for life.

Marsh and Mitchell Starc celebrate a wicket against Pakistan in 2023. (Getty images: Paul Kane)

"Self-deprecation is a good form of humour at times, as long as you don't start believing some of the stuff that you're saying," Mitch said.

"I'm not actually fat, I don't know where that came from, but I was a bit emotional and was just trying to think of something half funny to stop me from crying.

"I always like to keep things reasonably light-hearted, and it certainly helps when you're under a bit of pressure out in the middle.

"Over the last two years, fun has played a huge part of my personal success, being able to relax in our team environment and enjoy what I'm doing.

There were happy moments in the overlap of Shaun and Mitch Marsh's Test careers. The brothers were at the crease at the SCG in January 2018 when Shaun celebrated a century. (Reuters: David Gray)

"There are hard parts to our job, moments where we're under the pump, and like any other human, I get nervous as … I get anxious about winning and performing.

"But the core of our group and what we do is based around enjoyment and I think if you can see that side to whatever you do, naturally you perform better."

Mitch is now using his story in cricket to help others, particularly men and young boys who may not feel equipped to deal with their feelings.

Find Ya Feet

A chance encounter with the chief executive and founder of Find Ya Feet, Tommy Herschell, while out surfing in Indonesia has resulted in a close friendship and a common goal.

"The best way I can sum it up is it's about giving people the tools to deal with their shit because as humans, we all go through stuff and men, we don't like talking about our emotions," Mitch said.

"Tommy is a great human being, what he's doing is changing lives and I play a very small part in that, using cricket as a platform to raise awareness … it's something I'm passionate about.

Tommy Herschell and Mitchell Marsh met in the surf. (Instagram: @mitchmarsh235)

"I was a young kid trying to take on the world by myself and when cricket was going well, I was on fire, but when cricket was shit, I was no good … I just didn't have a way of dealing with it.

"So, I encourage people to not give up on the things they love and to have the courage to speak about their mental struggles."

Herschell, a teacher by trade, started the non-profit organisation Find Ya Feet while reflecting on his personal struggles with alcohol and aggression after being unable to process his emotions.

Running workshops at schools, corporate workplaces, and sporting organisations, he speaks with groups from 20 to 150 people and aims to give them the tools to cope.

Tommy Herschel is the chief executive and founder of Find Ya Feet (Instagram: @findyafeet)

Herschell said Mitch's role as an ambassador — alongside brother Shaun and former Test star Matthew Hayden — cannot be understated.

"He's the most selfless human I've ever come across and he's an absolutely beautiful man, he's got an amazing heart," Herschell told ABC Sport.

"I wouldn't say his involvement is small — he says he doesn't do much because he's away all the time — but he knows how to make an impact.

"He came to a workshop at a Queensland school … One boy got up and spoke about how he had been bullied but he didn't want to let it affect the way he treated others, and Mitch bawled.

"There was another who spoke about his mother's addiction to ice and how his brother took his own life … that was really moving and when he was done, Mitch went straight up to him and shook his hand."

Mitch will be back in front of his Perth friends and family in the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy on Friday.

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