Six years after his international career took off at Lord’s, Marnus Labuschagne has an opportunity to save his spot in the Australian team.
Having not scored a century for nearly two years, Labuschagne has been promoted to open the batting for Australia’s World Test Championship final against South Africa.
The 30-year-old, who was once described as having “opening-itis”, won the battle to be Usman Khawaja’s fifth opening partner in 18 months over teenager Sam Konstas.
Despite making some important contributions as Australia regained the Border-Gavaskar trophy last summer, Labuschagne remains undoubtedly the batter under the most pressure.
Since the start of 2023, the Queenslander is averaging 31.54, after going at almost 60 until the end of 2022.
But Labuschagne, and Australia, will be hoping a return to the home of cricket will help bring out his best.
An unknown quantity heading into the 2019 Ashes, Labuschagne got his chance when he famously became the first concussion substitute in Test history.
After a Jofra Archer bouncer concussed Steve Smith, Labuschagne stepped in to top score with 59 in Australia’s second innings at Lord’s.
The right-hander went on to carve out 10 centuries from his next 27 Tests during a prolific period.
But as pitches became harder to bat on in Australia, as well as overseas, Labuschagne’s form has tapered.
“We love when they’re busy and putting pressure back on the bowlers,” Australia captain Pat Cummins said on Tuesday of the decision to pick Labuschagne as an opener.
“That’s our message here to Marnus, opening the batting can be tough but it can also be the best time to bat before the Dukes ball actually starts swinging and there’s runs to be scored.
“So it’s keeping that positive intent, (which) is when he’s batting at his best.
“With Marnus moving, we thought it’s one spot up, it’s not too different to batting at three.
“He’s done well here in England in the past.”
Konstas, one of the brightest talents in Australian cricket this decade, looms large for the three-Test tour of the West Indies should Labuschagne not be able to recapture form at Lord’s.
Since David Warner retired from Tests in January 2024, Steve Smith, Nathan McSweeney, Konstas, and Travis Head have each joined Khawaja at the top of the order.
A new WTC cycle, after this year’s final, could allow selectors to start fresh with Konstas, who doesn’t turn 20 until October.
But first, Australia need to take care of a hungry South Africa, who are desperate to break a drought in ICC tournaments dating back to 1998.
The Proteas were crushed the last time they met Australia, only avoiding a 3-0 whitewash in 2022-23 due to the Sydney weather.
“Oh that wasn’t a good time in Australia,” South Africa captain Temba Bavuma said.
“For a lot of us who were there, it was a little bit of an eye-opener.
“Playing against Australia, seeing how their batters went about their business, facing their bowlers and how you’re always under pressure and you had to find ways to exert pressure back on them.”
South Africa won seven-straight Tests to qualify for the final, beating the West Indies, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan.
AUSTRALIA: Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Beau Webster, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (capt), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.
SOUTH AFRICA: Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Wiaan Mulder, Temba Bavuma (capt), Tristan Stubbs, David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne (wk), Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi.
This AAP article was made possible by support from Amazon Prime Video, which is broadcasting the World Test Championship final.
Content Source: www.perthnow.com.au