Labuschagne got ahead of himself during the Ashes. Now the selectors are breathing down his neck

Marnus Labuschagne admits he got ahead of himself at times during last summer’s Ashes series, as he embarks upon Australia’s 12-month Test match pilgrimage with the national selectors breathing down his neck.

One of the trickiest problems for Australia right now is that the two most vulnerable members of the top six on performance are arguably the two youngest players, in Labuschagne and all-rounder Cameron Green.

Earlier this year, Labuschagne signed a Cricket Australia contract extension until 2029, underlining how highly he is considered within the Australian set-up, but without consistent runs from No.3, neither he nor Pat Cummins’ team are going to get very far.

Last summer, after being dropped in the Caribbean, Labuschagne started the domestic season with a glut of runs in the Sheffield Shield and looked fluent at the crease against England. But he got sucked into some intemperate dismissals, twice at the hands of Ben Stokes, to finish the series without a genuinely big score.

“[It was] a little bit of lack of confidence in trusting the process, then you try to rush the process and you make errors,” Labuschagne said in Brisbane on Thursday. “There were a few dismissals last summer [against Stokes] where you’re going well, and you just rush the process.

“You want to get to that three-figure score, you want to get that score rather than staying in the moment. I’ve reflected a lot in the last two months on playing at my best, and it’s just letting the game come to me and being able to read what’s happening and trusting your game and technique and process, and the runs take care of itself.

“It’s really important for me, we want the runs, but we want the process, and that’s what I’m looking for. The runs will come as the journey goes on, if I keep trusting my game.”

Perpetually caffeinated, Labuschagne has taken time out from the game to spend more of this winter being a father, rather than poring endlessly over footage and trying to reimagine his game. He conceded that the search for batting improvements can have a mental toll, even for someone as energetic as he is.

“It’s hard to find long-term solutions in such a short time frame when you’ve only got three weeks between tours and things like that,” Labuschagne said. “Being on the road for so long, trying to find your feet, [you can have] a lack of confidence. When you’ve missed out a few times, you get a little greedy and start searching for runs instead of letting the game come to you.

“Also, over a four or five-year period, some of those technical things just keep growing and growing. You keep trying to find short-term solutions because you know it’s not perfect, and you’re striving for perfection.

“You do that over a four or five-year period and it drains you. So it’s been really nice to be in a real comfortable space with how I’m batting and how my game’s working, and now it’s just about trusting.”

In the years before he broke through at Test level, Labuschagne was identified by state teammates as a highly talented player who was often his own worst enemy, simply by striving for too much rather than trusting in his ability to bat time.

“It’s about scoring runs in my areas of strength and dominating those areas like I did in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022,” he said. “The areas where I scored predominantly were that leg-side pull shot and then getting into the ball on the off side.

“They’re the key things for me when I’m playing well, scoring runs and looking to put pressure on the opposition when they miss and come into those areas. When you’re on the road playing for probably the last seven or eight years straight, this is the longest break I’ve had.

“There have been times where I’ve tried to get things in order, but I just run out of time to fully commit to those small changes.”

Having never played a Test against Bangladesh, nor in Darwin, Labuschagne is trying to stay light on his feet, the better to react to the opposition and conditions. The second Test in Mackay will be a little more familiar – he made his first junior hundred there at under-14s level.

Beyond this series are big-time battles with South Africa, New Zealand, India and England, adding up to as many as 21 Tests in 12 months.

“It’s vitally important for us that we start really well, and take that little bit of rhythm into each series as we go,” Labuschagne said. “But making sure our focus is solely on the next series we’re playing.”

Australia v Bangladesh Test series

First Test: From August 13-17 at TIO Stadium in Darwin
Second Test: From August 22-26 at Great Barrier Reef Arena in Mackay

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