Marnus Labuschagne believes Jack Clayton was ready to answer an SOS by the Australian Test side, as the axed batsman outlined his own plan to force his way back into the international fold.
Addressing the media for the first time since the country’s selection chief, George Bailey, confirmed the Queenslander would not be considered for the forthcoming four-match series against New Zealand, Labuschagne stressed he had “no doubt” that a comeback to the Baggy Green beckoned.
To achieve that, the 32-year-old knows only runs will aid his course to board the plane in time for next year’s series in India, having gone more than three years without a Test century.
His path back will start from Wednesday when he captains the Bulls’ Sheffield Shield clash against Tasmania at the Gabba. This is similar to last year, when he was dropped after the West Indies series, only to regain his place for the Ashes after scoring two centuries and a further four one-day tons.
“I think you use this as an opportunity to step back from the scrutiny and being under the pump for probably two years now … and really just enjoy your time here, find ways to win games for Queensland, score runs, and enjoy the game,” Labuschagne said.
“I think my path back into the Australian team will work itself out. I’ve done it before, and for me, it’s something I truly want. I have no doubt I’ll get back there – when, who knows? But that’s still the aspiration and desire.
“Over a long period of two years being in this limbo of in and then not doing enough, but doing just enough, has taken its toll a little bit.”
Labuschagne admits he knew that without a score of note in the 2-1 series defeat in South Africa he would be on the chopping block. Having averaged just 21.83 across the campaign, he shed light on where he went wrong.
He insisted he felt he had been batting well, and his run of regularly surpassing 30 – as he did three times in South Africa – was symbolic of “not someone who’s not batting well; it’s someone who’s making mistakes when they’re in”.
“A lot of those mistakes have potentially come from the pressure of having to keep scoring runs and being on the verge of losing my spot. When you’re thinking too much about yourself, your focus tends to go down that path and not on what the team needs,” he said.
“I think if you look at those dismissals in South Africa, some of those dismissals feel like they come from a lack of clarity on what the team needed, and my own personal battle with scoring runs and missing out, and getting to 30 and going ‘I really want to go on’, and trying to rush the game.
“I think playing for Queensland is stepping back, finding ways to win games for Queensland, doing whatever it takes. It doesn’t matter if that’s scoring fast, slow, blocking out, it’s a real team focus.
“Hopefully, when I come back into that Australian lineup – obviously the only way that’s going to happen is through mountains of runs – that is the focus; getting back into that team-orientation around what do we need from me.”
A genuine bat-off to succeed Labuschagne beckons, with state teammate Clayton firmly in the frame. New South Wales rivals Kurtis Patterson and Sam Konstas, as well as South Australia’s Nathan McSweeney, will be others pushing their case.
Clayton’s century last week against Victoria took him to second in the competition’s run-scorer charts (303 runs at an average of 75.75) and continued a purple patch of form dating back to the 2024-25 summer. In his 20 matches since then, he has peeled off 1408 runs at an average of 46.93.
“My thing for Jack is, I’m here to support him. I understand this is the first time for him being on this journey of being in the spotlight, and whatever I can do to help him and make him feel comfortable to make sure that if he does get the opportunity, he takes it with both hands,” Labuschagne said.
“I think everyone’s good enough. I think it’s all this [the media attention] that is what you need to be able to deal with. I don’t think it’s the cricket, he’s skillful enough and a good player, and I think he’s got a really calm head on him as well.
“He’s mature enough in his age and how he understands the game, and he’s gone through the ups and downs of Shield cricket, so there are really a lot of positives. But what I will say is it’s not just him, there are a lot of really good candidates as well.”
Labuschagne’s press conference came as Usman Khawaja’s book, Sabr, was released, with early snippets attracting headlines regarding the South Africa Sandpaper Gate saga of 2018.
In the autobiography, Khawaja claims the entire squad – of which, Labuschagne was not a part – were aware of the use of sandpaper on the ball, with only Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft receiving long-term suspensions.
Labuschagne said there had been no talk in the change rooms in South Africa about what details Khawaja’s book may unveil, but believed Smith was handling the rehashing of the saga well.
“I think Steve’s all right, I think what’s happened is they served a pretty dear punishment for what the circumstance was – from an ICC perspective, a one-game ban is a recommendation, and they served a year of their cricketing career,” Labuschagne said.
“I think whatever comes from this, they’ve certainly paid their dues for what they were involved in. I don’t think there’s anything that’s going to come up and change anything for Steve specifically.
“I wasn’t there at the time, so it’s not for me to speak about.”
Cricket chief puts heat on curator
Jon Pierik
Under-pressure MCG curator Matt Page faces an early-season critique on Wednesday, as batters around the country prepare to lodge their bids for Test selection ahead of next month’s series against New Zealand.
Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg said on Tuesday he would cast a close eye on the drop-in wicket in Melbourne, where Victoria plays host to Western Australia.
Page and his team are in the spotlight after the strip used for last summer’s two-day Ashes Test was rated unsatisfactory by the ICC and cost CA about $10 million in revenue. That there was also a two-day Test in Perth meant the sport’s governing body lost a combined $20 million.
While poor batting was partly to blame, Page’s decision to leave 10mm of grass on the wicket, rather than the 6mm of 2023-24 on a wicket rated very good against Pakistan, proved a bad call, despite the best of intentions in a bid to guard against expected heat later in the game.
Contrary to what many cricket insiders thought, the MCC’s metrics show the added grass did not generate more seam movement; rather, the average seam movement dipped slightly. But what caught authorities by surprise was the increase in the average of sharp bounce.
Greenberg, who this year became the first CA chief to front the annual curators’ conference, said Page would have plenty of opportunities to get the pitch right come Christmas.
“There’ll be more Shield games at the MCG than there has been previously for this exact reason; to work with and help the curator at the MCG to get the right wickets, get the right amount of grass, and to ensure that we can prepare ourselves for two very big events,” Greenberg told SEN.
“One will be, obviously, the annual Boxing Day Test … but then in March, we’ll be having a pink-ball Test against England, and we want to make sure we give the MCG and the curators and the staff the best opportunity to prepare really high-quality cricket wickets, and the best way to do that is to prepare wickets for Shield cricket.
“So … I’ll be at the MCG [on Wednesday], having a look at that [the pitch] because, you know, it’s a great opportunity for us to see that and to work through some of the challenges that we faced last year.”
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