Australian pacer Mitchell Marsh on Monday decided to skip the cash-rich Indian Premier League and play for English county side Surrey next season to improve his game in the longer format. "It was a fairly big decision from a money point of view but my ultimate goal is to play Test match cricket for Australia," said Marsh, who was signed for Rs 4.8 crore by Rising Pune Supergiant in the IPL auction last year.

Marsh, who had cracked his maiden Test hundred during the ongoing Ashes series, said he wants to give himself a better chance to play for Australia when they play in England in the next few years. "Looking forward we have got a lot of cricket coming up in England over the next few years and I want to give myself the best opportunity to be over there and get used to the conditions," he said.

Talking about his strategy during the Melbourne Test, Marsh said: "I said to skipper Smith as we were walking off that I was proud. Probably the biggest thing I was most happy about it is that 12 months ago with my mental side of my game I probably don't think I could have got through that. "While I know it was the flattest wicket in cricket history, to apply myself for that long and not really care about scoring is something I've gained a lot of confidence from.