Marnus Labuschagne, Oz's best batsman

[K]

M. Conn:

Head and Labuschagne shouldn’t have played at the World Cup. They became heroes

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket/head-and-labuschagne-shouldn-t-have-played-at-the-world-cup-then-they-became-heroes-20231120-p5el6f.html

'Head thought he was out of the World Cup when he suffered a broken hand in South Africa a fortnight out from the showpiece event.

And Labuschagne, who played the anchor role with 58 not out from 110 balls, believes his precarious survival in the one-day team came down to divine intervention from the time he replaced Cameron Green as a concussion sub in the pre-World Cup tour of South Africa.

“I’m a man of faith, and the way the last 19 games have gone, there’s no way I can give the credit to anyone else but the man above honestly,” said Labuschagne, who believed he had been “unofficially dropped” about five times, only to be saved by player injuries or unavailability.
...

Long before he put India to the sword with his bat, Head had changed the game in the field, running back from cover to take a diving catch to dismiss India captain Rohit Sharma.'

[Pies4shaw]

Averaging under 35 in 2023.

His worrying long-term trend of being poor when Australia playis its second innings continues. His Test average over his career is still nearly 52, overall - but in the second innings it is just 39.

[Pies4shaw]

And, despite Australia leading the series 2-0, he has just 85 runs at 21.25. He battled hard in the first innings of this Test (63 from 155 balls) but his other scvores, so far, have been 16, 2 and 4. Here's hoping he gets himself right, soon.

[K]

Wu:

'A host of former players, including Michael Clarke and Mark Waugh, have detected a weakness in Labuschagne’s set-up regarding his hip and shoulder positioning, which result in him being squared up and edging to the slips. He spent much of Australia’s net session on Wednesday working on this weakness.'

(The Age)


Mebbe Marny's been screwed up by mixing too much with Smith...

[Donny]

McDonald has all but assured Labu he'll play in the second Test.

The old addage comes to mind: It's harder to get out of the Australian Test team than to get into it.

[K]

Marny's 90 in the first innings, 2nd Test v. NZ will be a relief.

But he & Head & Marsh need to score runs and watch their backs! 'Cos with Smith's totally predictable failure as opener, there's a chance he might badger the selectors to move down into one of their spots. (Just like how he badgered the selectors to open!) And if they cave in again, then Marny, Head or Marsh could be outa the team.