Source :- THE AGE NEWS
Cape Town: If Marnus Labuschagne had not been told that he will be missing from Australia’s team for the Newlands Test match, then he certainly looked like someone who knew his future was very much up in the air.
The tourists’ main training session showcased a host of curious sights, but none more so than Labuschagne, who bowled some desultory leg breaks early on before eventually batting in the last centre wicket rotation, where he was given a difficult time by the likes of Scott Boland, Matt Kuhnemann and even Matt Wade with a whanger.
Labuschagne’s usual nets partner, batting coach Michael Di Venuto, was also engaged elsewhere.
Above all, Labuschagne looked anything but his bubbly, caffeinated self. His demeanor contrasted with the focused attention displayed by Cameron Green and Josh Inglis, who both looked strong contenders to play on Tuesday.
“We all know Marn and have spoken a bit about him in the past, and his 30s have been frustrating for him the way that he’s playing so well to that point,” wicketkeeper Alex Carey said of Labuschagne. “In the game of cricket, I guess you know you can’t give an inch any time.
“He’s really hungry and understanding that his role is to go on and convert those runs. So again, keep doing what he’s doing, but do it for longer is what he’s thinking as well.”
Beau Webster, widely thought to be under pressure to keep his place, was also central to the session with bat and then ball, while Cooper Connolly had a sizeable centre wicket session but did not bowl.
Then there was Steve Smith, who batted briefly, then had a long and earnest chat of about half an hour with head coach Andrew McDonald, into which Labuschagne and captain Pat Cummins each had briefer involvement. After that, Smith retreated to the dressing room and then emerged to walk a series of laps.
“Steve’s going well. I’ve spent a lot of time with him as I always do. I think he’s 100 per cent fine,” Carey said. “Looking forward to seeing Steve get out there and play and hopefully score the big runs we’ve seen him do. He’s had a couple of starts. He’s impacted a little bit with his neck, but yeah he’s ready to go.”
Nathan Lyon, meanwhile, turned in another bowling stint before joining a group including his close friend Mitchell Starc for an afternoon round of golf. The dryness of the Newlands pitch and favourable weather forecast would make it extraordinary if Lyon were to be left out again.
In the five out of 10 Tests where Australia have left out a specialist spin bowler over the past 12 months, they have won three and lost two. There was also the 2023 Manchester match where Todd Murphy was omitted, and rain played the main role in turning likely defeat into a draw.
“I don’t know the stats around win loss without [spin], I think it’s pretty good,” Carey said. “Obviously, last week Josh Hazlewood went down, and any time you lose a bowler, I guess the loads and the way you structure up changes. And yeah, I think any way you try to take 20 wickets, the selectors will put a team out there to do that.
“I think you know historically we’ve done pretty well. We’ve seen Renners bowl overs, Beau Webster probably bowled the most amount he’s bowled in a little while – I thought he actually bowled really well without the wicket.
“So yeah, I think we still structure up really well if we don’t have that spinner. But we’ve seen for a number of years when you do have the spin as well, so we’ll wait and see how it looks this week, what the selectors see in the wicket, and which way we go with that.”
Carey had a few indifferent moments in Gqeberha, leaving a clear catch that was saved by Matt Renshaw’s outstretched right hand, then falling second ball amid Australia’s wretched first innings with a nondescript wave of the bat at Marco Jansen.
“I think we’ve made it pretty clear it wasn’t up to the standards we like to play our game at,” Carey said. “We’ve reflected, we’ve spoken about it, and now we’re really honing in our preparations for this Test match.
“The starts are there. It’s just going on and getting them into match-winning innings, and I think we’re all in that boat and really keen to convert those starts now. So yeah, the game’s there. It’s just going on doing it for longer.
“Series still on the line, which is really exciting. I know as a batting group, we’re really keen to get out there and I guess put into action what we spoke about the last couple of days, and turn that performance around.”
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Daniel Brettig is The Age’s chief cricket writer and the author of several books on cricket.Connect via X.
