Mitch Marsh's Zimbabwe connection: Father Geoff Marsh's coaching stint, childhood memories and a dream of playing for Zimbabwe

Mitch Marsh will play his 100th ODI for Australia in Zimbabwe this week, a country that has played a special role in his life and cricket journey. Marsh spent three important years of his childhood in Harare when his father Geoff Marsh was Zimbabwe's head coach. More than two decades later, he is back in the country as Australia's captain and one of the team's senior players.But for Marsh, Zimbabwe is much more than just another cricket tour.'He was a big part of my childhood'Ahead of Australia's ODI series against Zimbabwe, Marsh reunited with Farai 'Happy' Mapondera, who worked at the Marsh family's home in the Harare suburb of Highland.As a 10-year-old, Marsh would spend a lot of time with Happy and the other household workers. He even preferred eating with them rather than in the house."I spent my days with him a lot of the time," Marsh told cricket.com.au. "I refused to eat in the house – I'd go and have dinner with him. He was a big part of my childhood."Happy had come to Harare Sports Club hoping to meet Marsh, but the Australian had gone to a nearby gym. When they finally met on Monday, the two shared a long embrace.Marsh then took Happy upstairs, where his family was on a video call. His sister Melissa and mother Michelle were also part of the call."Everyone was a little bit emotional," said Mitch.The Curran brothers were part of his childhoodCricket was also a big part of Marsh's life in Harare. He spent hours at Harare Sports Club playing cricket with Tom, Ben and Sam Curran, the sons of his father's coaching assistant Kevin Curran.All three later played international cricket. Tom and Sam represented England, while Ben played for Zimbabwe. Marsh's Zimbabwe counterpart Sikandar Raza joked that he was "practically a local".Marsh admitted just how strong his connection with the country was."I actually wanted to play for Zimbabwe at one point."Instead, he will play his 100th ODI for Australia in the country that helped shape his childhood.Zimbabwe was also important to his cricket careerMarsh returned to Zimbabwe with Australia in 2014, when he was still a young player trying to establish himself at international level. He was promoted to No. 3 by captain George Bailey and responded with a six-filled 89 in an ODI against Zimbabwe in Harare. A week later, he scored 86 not out, hitting seven more sixes.Those performances helped Marsh push for a place in Australia's squad for the 2015 ODI World Cup, which Australia won.Looking back at that tour, Marsh said: "I had the opportunity to bat three in a couple of those games, which was amazing," Marsh told reporters of a series that put him on the path to winning a spot in Australia’s squad for the following year’s ODI World Cup, their 2015 triumph at home. "To be honest, it feels so long ago that it's hard to really even remember the tour. But I do know that obviously I had a couple of really good innings as a young kid, and that was a great squad to be a part of."Now Marsh wants to help Australia's young playersMarsh is now one of the senior players in the Australian team.With Australia the reigning 50-over world champions, Marsh feels he has a responsibility to help young players such as Cooper Connolly, Joel Davies and Ollie Peake enjoy their early international careers. The trio are at a similar stage to where Marsh was during Australia's last ODI tour of Zimbabwe in 2014."I think a lot of us feel that responsibility to make sure these guys really enjoy playing cricket for Australia," he said. "It goes so fast. For me to now think that I'm a senior player within this group – I just want to create the best environment for them to learn, to hopefully excel, to experience playing international cricket. We are so lucky to do what we do, to get to come to places like this, tour and be together. I hope they have a great time and a similar time to what I had."A friendship that began in ZimbabweMarsh's connection with Zimbabwe did not end when his family returned to Australia. After coming back to Perth in 2004, Marsh met Riley Pattison, a young Zimbabwean boy whose family had also moved to Australia.The two had not known each other in Zimbabwe. But they met on their first day of Year Eight at Wesley College in Perth and became close friends.That friendship has lasted ever since.Last week, after Australia arrived in Harare, the entire team and support staff visited the farm leased by Pattison's family on the outskirts of the city.As the sun set over the African landscape, Marsh would have had plenty to reflect on.Zimbabwe was where he spent his childhood, learned to love cricket and built friendships that lasted a lifetime.Now, it is the place where he will celebrate another major milestone in his Australian career: his 100th ODI.Get the latest Sports News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.