Marnus Labuschagne has it in him to be Australia’s next great Test batter

No one could’ve thought of it this way, but with every passing game, that dangerous Jofra Archer bouncer and fearful injury to Steve Smith’s neck at Lord’s is beginning to feel like a blessing in disguise for Marnus Labuschagne and Australian cricket.

When Labuschagne would’ve least expected to bat in an Ashes Test in England, he was forced to put on his gear and face the heat in the most challenging set of circumstances.

One would’ve forgiven the youngster if he had failed. Only 25 then, the Queenslander had batted in only eight previous innings at the Test level since his unexpected debut in October 2018. Here he was having to walk into a precarious situation with his team’s back against the wall when he wasn’t even meant to be playing.

But Labuschagne batted with such care and discipline for his match-saving 59 amidst some gloomy London weather on a worn-out pitch that you felt he had his life depending on it. It was an innings of such great class and quality in difficult conditions that, within those few hours, you could almost sense a player is emerging.

Marnus Labuschagne hasn’t looked back since becoming Steve Smith’s concussion substitute at Lord’s.

Test cricket is extremely hard. It exposes weaknesses like other formats can’t. As a viewer, it forces you to almost second-check your first experience of watching a cricketer. Makes you wary of a definite statement on someone’s future. For so long is the history of bright young players making promising starts but quickly fading out of the scene. Marnus Labuschagne didn’t look one such player, though. His innings at Lord’s was a validation to the ‘feel’ that he belongs.

Like good players do, he followed that innings of his with three successive half-centuries in Headingley and Manchester and ended the series as Australia’s second-highest run-getter with 353 runs at 50.42. Labuschagne hasn’t looked back since.

Marnus Labuschagne’s rise a blessing for Australia

From the end of that England trip, his 11 Tests for Australia in a pandemic-hit phase have seen him average 83.27 with six hundreds, including one in the D/N Test against England on Friday. Labuschagne was the highest run-getter, the highest averaging player and most frequent hundred-maker of a WTC cycle he might not have even played if Smith hadn’t gone down with concussion.

At a time when Australia’s batting reserves are thinner than ever before, with the likes of Travis Head & co proving inconsistent against quality attacks, Marnus Labuschagne’s rise has been a blessing for Australian Test cricket. In England, for example, he showcased greater technical nous and ability against swing and seam than David Warner, whose struggles against Stuart Broad were well-documented.

Warner’s away woes aren’t lost on anyone. He averages 33.17 in 37 away Tests for Australia. In England and India, this average falls to 26.04 and 24.25, respectively, over 21 Tests. Warner dominates opposition attacks at home but pales as a force when he has to counter difficult conditions overseas. But he is only a part of the problem.

In away Tests that Australia has played since January 2015, while Smith averages 65.90 at his end, among others with a minimum of 500 runs, shockingly only one other player averages more than 30. Warner averages 29.48 in these games over 50 innings.

The disparity between Smith at his best and others is such that Australia are in dire need of more batting heroes to emerge. This is where Marnus Labuschagne comes into the picture. He has also had only four overseas Tests so far – all of them in his first proper run of games in England – but his case looks different. Labuschagne is showing greater resolve and depth against all kinds of bowling than say Wade and Khawaja do, and did.

So far only the great Ravichandran Ashwin and the ace that is Jasprit Bumrah have managed to keep him down for a length of time. Which is telling in its own way. No Kiwi pacer or a Pakistan quick even came close to finding a way past him in that 2019-20 summer. 

Labuschagne looks set to grind England down for a lot of runs this season, before next year’s Asian sojourn offers him an opportunity to enhance his status into a world-renowned, all-conquering force like the man he replaced on that gloomy day in London. One can never know what lies ahead but he has it in him to be Australia’s next Test match great.