Australia v New Zealand: The astonishing rise of Marnus Labuschagne

Marnus Labuschagne is enjoying a stratospheric rise based on a simple technique and a huge appetite for the contest - and opposition teams can’t find a way to counter him.

Marnus Labuschagne celebrates bringing up his century against New Zealand. Picture: AP

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Only a few months ago he was the last man chosen on the Ashes tour, now he is walking with the greats of the game.

It takes quite a player to bat with Steve Smith and look more comfortable at the crease but Marnus Labuschagne managed it in style.

The Kiwis bogged down Smith with a wider, fuller line but there was no stopping Labuschagne as a series of carefully laid game plans were systematically shredded before their own eyes.

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Marnus Labuschagne celebrates bringing up his century against New Zealand. Picture: AP

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It was further compelling evidence that we are seeing the birth of a truly exceptional Test match batsman rather than simply a kid milking a crazy hot spot.

He is the world’s most improved cricketer and it’s a very rare thing for a player to improve so far, so quickly.

Labuschagne’s audacious six over mid-wicket to raise three figures said everything about his confidence, almost like treating himself an ice cream at the end of a hot day.

Attrition was the word of the day.

The Kiwis brought their tight, clever lines and field placings but Labuschagne won the staring competition, no mean feat against a team with the concentration powers of a chess champion.

Every innings Labuschagne looks the same at the crease yet every innings there are tiny adjustments from the opposition which he nervelessly, fluently counters.

While Smith struggled for fluency at Optus Stadium, Labuschange looked as if he simply marched out of a time bubble from Adelaide or Brisbane, where he scored his earlier centuries this summer.

To reach 1000 Test runs at a rate eclipsed by only Sir Donald Bradman, Neil Harvey and Sid Barnes is a remarkable effort.

To get there in the same number of innings as Mark Taylor and Doug Walters also tells a story because both had spectacular starts to their Test careers.

New Zealand couldn’tto find an answer to Labuschagne’s clear-headed approach.

Simplicity and strength are the keys to him. A simple, compact technique and a clear head combined with an insatiable zest for the contest.

Sounds basic but there are few batsmen who ever find the sweet place he is still in at the moment.

He has improved so much that as his Test average approached 60 as he passed 50 for the seventh time in his last 10 innings it dwarfed his Sheffield Shield average which is in the mid-30s.

Life should not work this way. This stark comparison shows how much he has improved through a simple raw desire to get better.

The first fundamental plank to his game is the shot he doesn’t play … the leave.

Labuschagne celebrates bringing up his century on Thursday. Picture: AP

It must have broken the hearts of the Kiwi players in 40 degree heat to see their best work delivered just wide of off-stump pass harmlessly unchallenged, with the agony intensified by the kooky nature in which he plays little pull shots to an invisible ball as if to say “hey, come closer to the stumps and you might be a chance.’’

And they do and that only starts his piston pumping flicks through the on-side which are the first slice of butter on his batting bread.

But there was also pull shots, the occasional smoking drive on a day when there were few of these strokes plus glides over slips.

Front foot, back foot, off side, on side. Compact. Correct. Confident. Not flawless but in control.

England and Pakistan could not find his soft spot.

For New Zealand, the search continues.