A right-arm fast bowler of extreme pace, Marsh had high athletic qualities and was regarded as one of the outstanding talents of his era.

His career was curtailed by continual controversy surrounding the legality of his bowling action; he was no-balled multiple times for throwing.

As a result of the debate over the legitimacy of his action, Marsh never established himself at first-class level and was overlooked for national selection.

Born into the Bundjalung people at Yulgilbar on the Clarence River in northern New South Wales, Marsh first made an impression as a professional runner, travelling to Sydney and then competing interstate, winning races as a sprinter and a hurdler.

[1] Marsh was born into the Bundjalung people at Yulgilbar, which sits on the Clarence River in northern New South Wales.

His surname is believed to have possibly derived from that of Francis Henry Marsh, whose property Camira was separated from Yulgilbar by the Richmond Range.

[3] Marsh also gained prominence in the inner-southern Sydney suburb of La Perouse, which had a large Indigenous population, by demonstrating his boomerang skills.

Marsh had previously performed such an exhibition to ground members and the requisite splints and bandages were acquired from the nearby St. Vincent's Hospital, in order to bind his bowling arm.

[14] Marsh and his club sought a speedy resolution to the problem because Sheffield Shield matches were due to begin in a matter of weeks.

[13] In a high scoring match, Marsh was the most successful of the New South Wales bowlers, taking five wickets for the loss of 181 runs (5/181).

[15] While Richard Callaway—the New South Wales umpire officiating the match—was satisfied with Marsh's bowling action, his Victorian counterpart Bob Crockett was concerned with the twisting of the bowler's wrist.

Marsh took 3/39 and 3/51 respectively,[17] dismissing Test batsmen Peter McAlister, Warwick Armstrong, Jack Worrall and Frank Laver.

[5][18] According to cricket historian Bernard Whimpress, the early signs of a conspiracy against Marsh were raised by a journalist from The Age of Melbourne by the name of Old Boy.

In Australia, Jim Phillips had set the tone by no-balling Australian Test bowler Ernie Jones.

[19] These included the prize wickets of Hill and George Giffen, Test players who went on to be inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame.

The crowd showed its sympathy for Marsh when he rattled Armstrong's stumps; they cheered him loudly and verbally attacked Crockett.

[23] Curran's previous calling of Marsh in the Sydney competition had strengthened Crockett's position away from his parochial state base.

When Marsh bowled from the other end in the second innings of the match, his action was deemed by Crockett's umpiring partner Sammy Jones to be fair.

The same line of reasoning concluded that a New South Welshman would be called, and likely not a high-profile Test player like Noble or Jack Saunders.

[30] The controversy over Marsh's bowling action again reared its head during the 1901–02 season, when MacLaren led his English tourists to Australia.

The match was the subject of much media attention because it was the first time that two Aboriginal Australians had played in opposing teams at first-class level.

[28][30][39] The general consensus among the English touring party was that Marsh's bowling was unfair, with Warner describing him as a "shier",[39] a 19th-century term for a thrower.

[28] Warner and Noble were confident that Crockett would no-ball Marsh out of the match if the Australian Test selectors picked the bowler.

As a result, Marsh was effectively excluded from the Australian side and his first-class career was limited to just six matches in which he took 34 wickets at an average of 21.47.

[39] The Australian Test batsman and captain Warren Bardsley rated Marsh alongside Fred Spofforth and England's Sydney Barnes.

[4] Les Poidevin described Marsh as "a well set-up, perfectly built ... man, with an ebony-black, smooth, clear shining skin and twinkling black eyes" who "is quite good looking".

[3] Marsh joined Alexander's Hippodrome Company, travelling around Australia in a sideshow,[2] where his cricketing fame brought much attention.

[2] Marsh died after an assault caused by an argument outside the pool room of the Royal Hotel in Orange, New South Wales.

[28] The Bulletin wrote in Marsh's obituary that he was "a darkly troubled man with manners which white brothers found impossible to put up with".

[42] Greg de Moore in 2016 presented "Tom Wills: First Wild Man of Australian Sport",[43] a subject he'd spent years researching.