Marnus Labuschagne set to play in Sydney as Australian captain Tim Paine lashes ‘disappointing’ pitches
Marnus Labuschagne says he’s ready to play in Sydney as selectors toss up who to dump from the beaten Australian team — one which captain Tim Paine says has hardly felt at home on local pitches.
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Marnus Labuschagne says he’s ready to tackle the fierce pressure surrounding his shock return to the Australian Test team after captain Tim Paine despaired at the tourist-friendly decks ambushing the national team.
Selectors are deciding whether to axe Aaron Finch or Mitchell Marsh — or both — for the critical SCG Test, with recent panel member Mark Waugh declaring it was time to dump the two struggling stars and totally revamp the top six.
Labuschagne will jet into Sydney on Monday to join the Australian squad ahead of the fourth and final Test against India at the SCG, starting Thursday.
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The South Africa-born Labuschagne made his baggy green debut in Australia’s two-Test series against Pakistan in the UAE in October, but was dropped for the India series.
While he only averaged 20.25 batting in the middle order, Labuschagne collected seven wickets against Pakistan at 22.42 with his handy leg breaks.
With a spin-friendly wicket expected at the SCG, Labuschagne said he was ready to prove he deserved to be a permanent fixture in the Test arena.
“It’s international cricket and the pressure is high, especially now,” Labuschagne told News Corp.
“It’s an opportunity to stand up, put your name up and really step up when your country needs you. If I get that opportunity then that’s exactly what I’ll try to do.
“The scrutiny in international cricket is fierce. Everyone in that team playing for Australia right now is doing their absolute everything to perform.
“I’m going to do the exact same. I’ll give everything I’ve got to help us win the game.
“The opportunity is massive. It is there and if you can stand up and really take it, it doesn’t matter who you are.”
Wholesale changes will be considered for the two-Test series against Sri Lanka starting in late January, unless Australia can lift themselves off the canvas and stop India winning a series down under for the first time.
However, a frustrated Paine says Australia’s job has been made all the more difficult by home curators rolling the red carpet out for India by preparing inadequate pitches.
The MCG pitch was slow and flat like Bangalore, and the Australians are expecting the SCG wicket to turn like Chennai — hence why leg-spinning all-rounder Labuschagne has been added to the squad and not someone like Joe Burns to fix the more obvious crisis at the top of the order.
“I’d prefer to see wickets that have got a bit of bounce and carry. Our strength in Australia is our pace and it’s very rare you go to India and get a green wicket,” Paine told ABC Grandstand.
“It’s been disappointing at times we’ve produced wickets that have played into their hands a little bit, albeit they’ve outplayed us in these conditions anyway.”
Paine said Australia had no choice but to largely back the top six picked at the start of the summer, but talked up the chances of Labuschagne.
“There’s not too many options to be fair. We’ve just got to keep working away and backing the guys to get better and improve,” said Paine.
“(Marnus’) batting is high quality and always improving. He showed in Dubai his leg-spin bowling is more than handy and he’s obviously a superb fielder, so he brings a lot to our group.
“He’s another young cricketer with a lot of talent, but as we’ve seen, talent doesn’t guarantee you success at this level.
“There’ll be a lot of things on the table in the next day or two and I’ve got some thoughts on what I think but I’ll share that with JL (Justin Langer) and a few other guys before I share it here.
“We’ve got the best group of players available to us at the moment.”
Usman Khawaja appears certain to shift up to open the batting in place of Finch who will be desperately hoping he is given one last chance as a middle-order player — where critics always felt he would be best suited.
Dropped squad member Peter Handscomb has also re-entered calculations given the slow, spinning conditions anticipated for Sydney which should suit the Victorian’s backfoot style.
Labuschagne is most likely to come in as a straight-swap for Mitchell Marsh.
Mark Waugh said he would have picked Burns and said he’d also have Glenn Maxwell back on the radar.
“I think if Aaron Finch plays he should bat in the middle order. I personally would look at unfortunately dropping Aaron Finch and Mitch Marsh for Sydney. I think those two batsmen are under the gun,” Waugh said on Fox Cricket’s 360.
“I just can’t see it getting any easier although it’s a bit tougher on Mitch Marsh because he’s only played the one Test in this series.
“Aaron Finch, I originally thought he might be able to play a Michael Slater role but I think his technique has really been exposed against some quality bowling so I’d be probably be leaving him out … I’d think about bringing Peter Handscomb back into the side if it’s looking like it’s a spinning wicket.
“I don’t think Aaron Finch will play in Sydney I think they will shuffle that batting order around.”
Originally published as Marnus Labuschagne set to play in Sydney as Australian captain Tim Paine lashes ‘disappointing’ pitches
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