PERTH, AUSTRALIA // Shaun Marsh, the struggling Australia batsman, has conceded he is running out of chances at Test level.
Having been sidelined by his latest back problem, the left-hander was rushed back into the Australia side for the Test series against India on the back of just one Twenty20 innings.
He is yet to reward the faith of the selectors, with just 14 runs at an average of 3.50 batting at No 3 in a series the home side has otherwise dominated to lead 3-0.
Marsh has again received the backing of the selectors by being retained in the 12-man squad for the fourth Test in Adelaide, starting on Tuesday, but he has said the pressure to make a substantial score was reaching a critical mass.
"At the end of the day my job is to score runs and I haven't been doing that in the first three Test matches," he said.
"There's always pressure, that's part and parcel of playing international cricket, I've just got to try to turn it around.
"You don't get too many chances to play Test cricket, so I know my chances are running out."
In a bid to regain some form, Marsh has been released to play for his domestic Twenty20 side, the Perth Scorchers, today.
The 28 year old, who has played six Tests and scored 298 runs at 33.11, including a century on debut against Sri Lanka, conceded it was one of the most important matches of his career.
"I'm just looking forward to getting out there and spending a bit of time in the middle," he said.
"I've had some poor games lately in the Test arena, which has been disappointing, so to get out there and hopefully score a few runs to get the confidence back would be nice."
Marsh dismissed suggestions he had returned from injury too early and said he believed the batsman-friendly Adelaide Oval was the perfect venue to turn his form around.
"The back's fine now, the body's feeling great and it's time to score some runs," he said.
* Agence France-Presse
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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Name: Kumulus Water
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The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
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