Marnus Labuschagne has become the student of the game who needs to close the books to pass the test.
His batting mentor, Neil D’Costa, is telling the under-siege Test No.3 with more theories than recent runs to stop being so “rigid”. National men’s coach and selector Andrew McDonald wants him to be proactive at the crease. Michael Hussey, the batting great they call “Mr Cricket”, is urging him to be decisive.
Marnus Labuschagne is being advised to take a more proactive approach to his batting.Credit: Fox Sports
The widespread view among experts in and outside the Australian dressing room is there cannot be a sequel to the torturous 95-minute, 52-ball stay that yielded just two runs in Perth. Nor can there be a repeat of his horror dismissal in the second innings when, crippled by indecision, he was trapped in front offering no stroke.
D’Costa has defended his star pupil’s handling of that delivery from Jasprit Bumrah, saying a ball pitched that length in Perth should ordinarily go above the stumps – but his backing came with a twist. Bumrah is no ordinary bowler.
“I know it sounds stupid, he’s just trying a bit too hard,” D’Costa told this masthead. “He’s got to let the game tell him what to do. You can’t decide on Monday what you do on a Saturday.
“Turn up and let the day tell him this is the way he needs to play. You’re not looking to leave that ball from Bumrah at that length, you have to play it, even though you practised all week knowing you can let it go.
Marnus Labuschagne’s spot in Australia’s side is under pressure.Credit: AP
“You’re in the jungle. There’s no rules in the jungle.”
For the first time since his meteoric rise from a Shield player with a middling record to the world’s No.1-ranked Test batter, Labuschagne’s spot in the team is uncertain.
An average that was once near 60 has plummeted to 48.45. This year, he is averaging 24.5, dismissed for a single-figure score in seven of his last eight knocks. He has just one century from his past 41 Test innings, albeit an important ton in Manchester that saved Australia the Ashes.
No player in Australian cricket, except perhaps Steve Smith, trains harder or for longer than Labuschagne. Though that work ethic has produced world-class results for his protege, it has not always settled comfortably with D’Costa, who does not believe Labuschagne’s issues are technical.
“The quality against quantity has always been an issue,” D’Costa said. “I always worry about his quantity and I worry that can make you a bit rigid. I know that’s something ‘Diva’ [Australia batting coach Michael Di Venuto] is working on with him.
“Your greatest strength can be your biggest weakness. I trust McDonald and Di Venuto. I know that ‘Diva’, particularly, is getting on about you need to relax, trust your process, trust yourself and listen to the game.
“To me, he’s staring at the page too much.”
Hussey, the popular batting great turned respected Fox Cricket analyst, this week watched footage from Labuschagne’s breakthrough summer of 2019-20 when the Queenslander became a match winner. Like D’Costa, he did not notice much change in Labuschagne’s technique. What has changed, according to Hussey, is his approach.
In tilting his game too far towards defence over attack, Labuschagne has become negative and tentative, Hussey said, and become not as well-placed to play a good ball or punish the bad one.
This observation is supported by numbers. During his purple patch from the 2019 Ashes to the end of the 2022-23 Australian summer, Labuschagne scored at 56.32 runs per 100 balls, compared to 43.76 in his past 17 Tests. Those Tests have come in largely bowler-friendly conditions in India, England, New Zealand and at home.
“From a technical perspective, there’s not too much different, it must be more of a mindset thing,” Hussey said.
“Going back to that footage, he looked so confident, decisive and looking to score all the time. When you are in that frame of mind you actually get into better positions to defend than to let the ball go anyway.
“Whereas if you’re in the mindset of survive or bat time, give yourself time to get in, hang in there, then sometimes you don’t move into the positions you need to score runs or to defend and let balls go.
“I can’t read his mind. As an observer, he certainly doesn’t look as confident, decisive, or have a looking-to-score mentality.”
Hussey, though, gave credit to Labuschagne for showing the character to dig in during Australia’s first-innings collapse.
He can relate to Labuschagne’s situation. After a stunning start to his career, Hussey said he too became tentative as he struggled with the idea he needed to play more responsibly to set the example for a Test team in transition after the departures of Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer and Adam Gilchrist.
It took Hussey about 18 months, a period where his place in the team became the subject of much speculation, to decide he needed to play with more confidence and decisiveness. In Hussey’s case, it did not take long for the change in mindset to produce a reversal in fortunes, which is good news for Labuschagne.
“He can turn it around really quickly,” Hussey said. “It’s definitely in his control.”
At a time when many cricket fans in the country want change, Hussey agreed with skipper Pat Cummins and selectors in calling for calm.
“I wouldn’t be looking to get rid of him any time soon,” Hussey said of Labuschagne’s place in the XI. “It’s the first Test match of a series. People are going to look at it and say he hasn’t scored many runs for a while.
“We know he’s a quality player, he’s scored big runs in the past. I don’t know if there’s anyone banging down the door to take his place to bat at No.3 anyway. I would back him to work his way through it and come out better the other side.”
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