Australian cricketing great Rod Marsh dies aged 74

By Issy Ronald, CNN

Updated 1100 GMT (1900 HKT) March 4, 2022

Australian cricket legend Rod Marsh has passed away at the age of 74.

(CNN)Rod Marsh, Australia's wicketkeeper during the 1970s, has died aged 74 after suffering a heart attack last week.

Marsh, in many ways, changed the way wicketkeepers operate. Originally selected as a batsman, he was the prototype batter-keeper allrounder that has since become ubiquitous in the modern game. The selectors' gamble paid off as Marsh scored an unbeaten 92 in just his fourth Test, and later became the first Australian wicketkeeper to score a Test century. In total, he scored three Test hundreds and 16 fifties. His wicketkeeping, on the other hand, was at first derided by critics and he was given the nickname 'Iron Gloves' after fumbling a number of catches behind the stumps in his first matches. Marsh hooking England bowler Bob Willis on the final day of the 3rd Test between England and Australia in Leeds, UK on July 21, 1981.Despite this inauspicious start, Marsh quickly became an adept wicketkeeper, and during his 14-season career, he collected a then world record 355 Test dismissals in 96 Test appearances; his partnership with fast-bowler Dennis Lillee yielded 95 dismissals alone, more than any other wicketkeeper-bowler combination in the history of the game.Read MoreMarsh represented Australia in the one-day format too, scoring four fifties and taking 124 dismissals. Such continued success won him multiple awards. In 1982, he was named as one of Wisden's Cricketers of the Year, and in 2005, he was inducted into the Cricket Hall of Fame by Cricket Australia. After his retirement, Marsh remained deeply involved within the game, as a coach at the Australian Cricket Academy, a