'It's a ruthless environment, and that's how it should be' - Agar on being sent back from India

With Western Australia on the verge of defending their Marsh Cup title successfully, left-arm spinner Ashton Agar was back in his element as the rowdy WACA faithful willed him on to take a five-wicket haul in the final against South Australia. He was unable to remove Wes Agar, his brother, but sealed the 181-run win by having Spencer Johnson stumped, to trigger scenes of celebration from the WA players and a strong 2700 crowd.After SA got off to a fast start chasing a daunting 388, Agar showed why he's Australia's second-choice white-ball spinner behind Adam Zampa, and looms as an important part of their World Cup plans later in the year. He bowled with trademark accuracy to frustrate the SA batters and finished with 5 for 64 in his best-ever Marsh Cup figures.It was a much-needed boost for Agar after the ignominy of returning from Australia's Test tour having been overlooked for selection. Having arrived in India as Australia's second spinner behind Nathan Lyon, Agar struggled in the nets and was quickly leapfrogged by uncapped offspinner Todd Murphy and left-armer Matthew Kuhnemann, who was parachuted into the touring squad."[They] felt I wasn't bowling as well as I needed to be," Agar said after the Marsh Cup final as he reflected on his departure from India. "It's a very clear direction for me now to just work on it and improve."I harbour no ill will or ill feeling at all. I'm very well supported in that (Australian) camp and they've kept in constant communication with me, so it's all in a good place."I've been a professional cricketer for ten years now, so I'm far more resilient than when I started. It's a tough game, it's a ruthless environment, and that's how it should be because it's the pinnacle of the sport."The 29-year-old Agar has only claimed nine wickets at 52 in five Tests, and went wicketless against South Africa at the SCG Test in January. Due to his international white-ball commitments, Agar has rarely played for WA in the Sheffield Shield in recent years and sports a modest first-class average