Adelaide The extent to which Australia's leaders are desperate for Shaun Marsh to succeed is reflected in the reshuffling of the batting order to accommodate him, with Steve Smith returning to No.3 and Adam Voges up to No.4.
When Smith moved himself to second drop for the start of this Trans-Tasman trophy series it was to separate the team's best two batsmen, himself and David Warner, because of the implications to the team if both fell in quick succession. 
Given that rationale, it is curious that just two Tests later he is back at No.3, especially since Usman Khawaja did enough in his three innings there to justify an immediate return once he has proved he has recovered from the hamstring injury he suffered in Perth. Slotting a replacement in at No.3 would have created the least disruption for when Khawaja returns.
It is not as if Marsh, 32, is inexperienced at No.3. He has batted there in 60 Sheffield Shield innings, the most of any position, and returned to that position this season for Western Australia. It is the position he has been chosen at for seven of his 15 Tests.
Furthermore, with 113 first-class matches only Voges and Peter Siddle trump exceed the experience of Marsh, whose debut came in   March 2001 when he was just 17.
Australia's explanation for selecting Marsh at No.5, and moving Smith and Voges to accommodate that, is that it is the position where he made 99 and 73 against India last summer.
"I think that's where he is best suited," Smith said on Thursday. "He's got an opportunity to come in and do well and take the opportunity with both hands."
The outcry that created the selection of Marsh as Khawaja's replacement hung on the fact this will be his sixth stint in the Test team. It overlooked that since Boxing Day last year his record for Australia, across five Tests and four tour matches is 706 runs at an average of 50.43.
A key attraction for selectors to picking Marsh is that his best is so good, and that he has shown glimpses of being able to perform in difficult conditions.
The left-hander's 141 on debut against Sri Lanka more than four years ago came on a Kandy pitch on which the hosts had managed only 174 and only two Australians, Marsh and Mike Hussey, reached 40. His 148 against South Africa in early 2014 came after he got the better of Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel on a lively pitch in Centurion, sharing a 233-run partnership with Smith.
If Australia are in trouble in the pink-ball Test the arrival of Marsh would likely be met with groans by a sizeable contingent of Australian supporters who maintain he has been treated more favourably than many of his peers. If that scenario does eventuate it would not be a surprise to see Marsh drag Australia out of trouble. The surprise would be if he was able to replicate that form in Hobart too, and however long he is in the team.
A lack of talent is not Marsh's biggest flaw. It is his wildly inconsistent performances. As part of that, it is timely reminder that while his bad is very bad his good is, even more pronounced than most players, very, very good. But if he fails to show the latter in either of the next two Tests then even someone as highly rated as him will - and should - struggle to get a seventh stint in the Test team.