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Marnus Labuschagne has warned England that he’s batting better than at any time since the memorable 2019 Ashes contest where he first crossed swords with Jofra Archer.
After a year spent rediscovering his best, 31-year-old Labuschagne has spoken candidly about how he has returned to the confident tactical and technical mindset that made him the only Australian player other than Steve Smith to look comfortable in a series played on famously tricky pitches.
His battles with Archer were particularly bracing, from the moment Labuschagne walked out as a concussion sub for Smith at Lord’s and bounced back up from a blow to the helmet as though a boxer ready for the next round.
“He’s a quality bowler, those were great battles in 2019 and we’ve had some good contests in one day cricket at certain times, but it’s going to be great to see their bowlers come out here and see how they go as well,” Labuschagne told this masthead of Archer.
“It’s been 18 months since I’ve been near my best, so it’d be nice to return to international cricket and play my best cricket. I genuinely feel like I’m batting better than I ever have now.
“The one time I feel like I was batting to a similar stature as I am now was probably 2019 Ashes. With the freedom and the way I was playing and moving and able to apply pressure in numerous areas.”
Marnus Labuschagne is struck by Jofra Archer during the Lord’s Test in 2019.Credit: Getty Images
Asked about what made Archer difficult to face, Labuschagne pointed to his combination of high pace from a languid approach to the crease, and the generation of steep bounce.
“It’s his delivery stride, how quick he is through the crease and probably the height he produces at the crease, because he uses his full height, rather than collapsing his front leg. Those factors are key.”
Before that series, Labuschagne had been full of brio when discussing how he knew exactly what was needed to deal with every member of England’s then bowling attack. It’s a level of confidence he lost somewhere along the way over six years of constant international cricket, but it’s back now.
“[In 2019] I was averaging 60 in county cricket and just in that run scoring form when everything’s clear. It doesn’t matter who you’re facing, it’s just ‘ok I’ll do this, or this, or this is where they’re bowling and I’ll put them under pressure here’.
Jofra Archer. Credit: Getty Images
“When you’re not going well it’s the opposite, it’s ‘I’ve got to do this, I’ve got to defend and grind’, instead of ‘nah I’ll just play the ball like that because that’s where the field or the plan is’.
“Whenever you’re not doing well or failing, there’s doubt, I don’t care who you are, that’s what happens. But I think it was more the fact that my technique was in a space where I couldn’t apply pressure to the opposition, so my only option was defensively to grind. That’s the part that’s shifted and why I’m really happy.”
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Alongside those memories of 2019 is a remarkable admission - through much of the rich run of scoring that followed for Australia, Labuschagne does not think he was playing particularly well.
“I’ve had periods of being a prolific run scorer, the 2019-20 Pakistan, New Zealand summer here,” he said. “But even then I don’t think I was necessarily batting that good. I was just a good decision-maker and I was in a rhythm of scoring runs, so you’re able to repeat that consistently.”
Labuschagne does not yet know whether he is going to bat in his customary number three spot or shift back up to opening with Usman Khawaja, saying: “it’s not as simple as work out your one, two, three”. But he does know he will be batting far better than last summer, where at times he both looked and felt like a sitting duck.
“My technique’s in a spot now where I can score off more deliveries and now it’s about decision-making,” he said. “I was nowhere near my best last summer, but I still managed to play some crucial innings in a series. But it’s certainly not the way I want to be playing, as restricted as I was then.
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“When you get that space, you sit back and go, ‘OK, I don’t want to be going back to that, playing that type of cricket where I’m so restricted and feel like the only way is to grind’. I think that’s what we’ve seen this season so far, probably a different Marnus than you have in the last few years.”
Labuschagne spoke glowingly of Joe Root, calling him “the best batter in the world at the moment”.
“I hope we don’t see the best of Joe Root this summer, for Australia if we can keep him quiet and put him under pressure to score runs that’d be really good for us. But the reality is he’s a class player and the best batter in the world at the moment. The way he goes about it, he’s one of the greats.”
But the Queenslander’s own return to the Australian top six provides another warning to England, by showing how much batting in these conditions can be required to feel at home again.
“The month I had in the West Indies with [Matt] Wadey and Diva [Michael Di Venuto], working there and with Ron [Andrew McDonald] and just batting and not having any pressure on me was the start of the process of getting back,” he said.
“Technically, I hadn’t landed on what I needed to land on then, but it felt like I was getting back to that freedom, and I just wouldn’t have been able to do it if I was in the team. As that progressed into coming here, I thought the only way I’m going to get back to playing my best is if I just played games.
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“So I played four or five club T20 games to get out there and bat and be able to find that feeling of scoring runs. I played two practice games against Tasmania, and it was the same thing, building up scoring runs in the middle and getting that feeling of trusting my game.”
England have played one measly warm-up game and on Tuesday will have their first session in the fast Perth Stadium nets.
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