Marnus Labuschagne dismissal highlights concerning Ashes trend
Despite making a confident 45 in the first innings, an alarming trend has emerged for Marnus Labuschagne.
Despite putting an ugly first Ashes Test behind him by starting the second with a knock of 45, Marnus Labuschagne is well aware he needs to lift his game. His first innings knock was a welcome stabiliser after struggling badly at Edgbaston, Labuschagne's three dismissals so far this series have followed an increasingly worrying trend.
Surpassed by England rival Joe Root as the top-ranked Test batter following the first Test, Labuschagne appeared to have found his feet, particularly after being joined at the crease by Steve Smith. It wasn't exactly an easy innings to begin with however, fortunate that an outside edge off Jimmy Anderson didn't carry through to the slips.
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He was not so lucky when Ollie Robinson again found his outside edge - the fate that befell him during both innings of the first Test. The 29-year-old was left kicking himself after losing his wicket in such a fashion, having described his prior two dismissals as 'uncharacteristic' in the lead-up to Lord's.
“I just made a few poor decisions (against balls) that were really wide. They’d be eighth or ninth stump, some of those deliveries,” Labuschagne said prior to the second Test. “They were very uncharacteristic dismissals to how I’ve usually played, that’s why I was pretty frustrated with myself to get out that way and asked myself the question, ‘Why did I play at those deliveries?’.
“I’ve come up with my own summation of what that is … it’s a rarity that I’d play at those balls so it’s not something I’m going to overthink, but I hold myself to a much higher standard than those dismissals.”
Statistically, Labuschagne can back up his description of the 'uncharacteristic' wickets - since his Test debut, no batsman has left as many deliveries as he has. New Zealand's Tom Latham is the only batsman in that timeframe with a comparable amount of deliveries left alone.
Despite the mode of dismissal, it was nevertheless a positive innings for Labuschagne, with himself, David Warner (66) and Steve Smith (85 n/o) all bouncing back after struggling at Edgbaston. Australia are in a strong position at the end of day one, at 5/339.
Labuschagne, Smith revivals highlight strong start for Australia
In assembling his impressive innings, Smith became the first Test player ever to score 9000 runs in less than 100 Tests. Australia faced a tricky proposition of batting first in overcast conditions at Lord's, but Warner and Usman Khawaja got off to a brilliant start.
Plenty of questions were posed of Smith over how he would bounce back after his Edgbaston performance, but the mercurial Aussie proved why he is the best test batter of his generation having become the second fastest player to 9000 runs in terms of innings played.
He reached the milestone only two innings shy of Kumar Sangakkara's 172 innings. Smith ended on 85 not out and will be seeking his 32nd test century. Smith is just 15 runs short of Aussie cricket icon Steve Waugh's 32 Test centuries, with Ponting (41 Test tons) the only Aussie above them on the all-time list.
The 34-year-old came out to bat on a mission and settled into his rhythm early. Averaging just under 60 across his test career, Smith looked zoned in and left England no option but to play his game having reached the day's end unscathed.
Just like the did in the Test Championship final, Smith combined with the swashbuckling Travis Head to leave the host's questioning their tactics on day 1. Warner, who looked solid for his 66 runs to open the innings, praised the duo's influence on the day's play and pinpointed to Head's counter-attack that took the game away from England under overcast conditions.
"He can take it away from you in that half-an-hour patch," Warner said. "Striking at over 100 on that wicket is exceptional. He applies the pressure back on to the to the bowling unit."
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