Marnus Labuschagne’s batting mentor credits what should have been landmark occasions for his protege as being the light-bulb moments that sparked his return to the top of world cricket.
One of Australia’s keys in the series against South Africa, the country’s most bankable batting star will finish 2022 among the game’s leading run-scorers again but there were concerns during the year all was not right with his game.
An average of just under 40 in Pakistan and Sri Lanka hardly warrants alarm bells but batting coach to the stars Neil D’Costa did not like everything he was seeing.
Labuschagne’s century in the second Test against Sri Lanka – his first on foreign soil – had put Australia in a strong position but a lapse in concentration on the stroke of tea cost him his wicket for 104 and sparked a downturn which resulted in the visitors losing the game, and splitting the series.
He had been guilty of giving a similar reprieve to India in the famous Gabba Test of 2021 when he made 108 but could not take the game away from the opposition. It was to prove costly as well, with India running down 328 to claim the series with a win for the ages.
D’Costa said he took Labuschagne to task each time.
“If he could have been more responsible and gone deeper, they could have won the series,” D’Costa said. “He took that responsibility, it was on him, in his eyes.
“If you’re Australia’s No.3 batsman, Ricky Ponting wouldn’t have let that happen. Same situation, you’ve got to make sure you don’t let that happen.”
Labuschagne could not be accused of repeating those errors this season. Though the West Indies provided little competition compared to what the Proteas are expected to offer, Labuschagne was not content with just reaching triple figures.
In both matches, he turned his first-innings tons into game-defining contributions.
The results are due largely to Labuschagne’s skill but also the work of D’Costa and sports psychologist Alan Mantle. The pair devised a plan that would stop his mind from wandering during an innings.
Noticing Labuschagne was fiddling too much with his technique when not warranted, D’Costa, with the help of Australia’s batting coach Michael Di Venuto, drew up a program that would prevent the batter from making unnecessary changes.
“We did a bit of redesigning of his own personal training stuff, we made it more structured and took away times where he can fiddle,” D’Costa said. “You’re doing this on day one, this on day two, this on day three etc and come game time your muscle memory’s in place and you’re ready to go.
“Never at any time did we think he wasn’t batting well. [He was] just making some poor decisions and fiddling. In some cases, just playing a little bit too much predetermined cricket.
“You’re a great enough player now to take the information in front of you and play from there.”
Marnus Labuschagne has made tweaks to the mental side of his game.Credit:Getty
Mantle worked on the mental side of Labuschagne’s game, believing he had been guilty of “time travelling” instead of staying in the present. The pair spoke for about 90 minutes on Zoom about six weeks ago on bedding down his routine.
Mantle, who says he has worked with numerous internationals, was extremely buoyed by the answers Labuschagne gave in what would appear to many as a mundane end-of-session interview.
“He said, ‘I just went back to my process’ – he said it about 15 times,” Mantle said.
“If we work out what the best process is, that gives you an opportunity. He’s got that at the moment.
“How long has he had it? It’s like wind in a sail. Sometimes it’s there, sometimes it’s not. The sail is always there, it’s what we put into the sail that helps or hinders us.”
Right now, the wind is at Labuschagne’s back, but the Proteas have their eyes on sinking the batting ace, be it through their express pace attack or mind games, such as speaking to the South Africa-born player in Afrikaan as visiting captain Dean Elgar did in a county match a few years ago.
“We’ll have to wait and see,” Labuschagne said. “I’ve got no doubt that they’re going to throw some curveballs and hopefully the responses can be either funny or none at all.”
