The Test: Marnus Labuschagne opens up on his deep Christian faith
Matthew Wade attempted to emulate Marnus Labuchagne, but it didn’t work out so well. Labuschagne opens up on that and his Christian faith.
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Marnus Labuschagne has opened up about his deep Christian faith and how a teammate who once tried to bluff the man upstairs was hilariously caught out.
In an enlightening insight into the man behind the runs, Labuschagne has revealed how it is in God, not cricket, that the world’s No. 1 batsman finds his true worth.
Labuschagne knows talking openly in the dressing room about his Christian faith may set him apart from the stereotypical Australian Test cricketer, but the 28-year-old has proudly declared “this is who I am.”
The Test season two which premiered in Sydney last night and will launch exclusively on Prime Video on January 13, tells the backstory of Australia’s biggest stars, with Labuschagne revealing he sports a sticker of an Eagle, representing his favourite bible verse, on his bat every time he takes guard for his country.
“Everyone knows cricket is a major part of my life but the value of me as a person isn’t in cricket it’s in my faith,” Labuschagne says in episode one.
“I grew up with Christianity going back to when I was a young kid, laying in my bed praying every night. I might not be the carbon copy Australian cricketer that people thought, but I’m me.
“The Eagle is always on my bat … (with verse) Isaiah 40:31 … ‘For those that hope in the Lord, he shall renew their strength. He shall soar on wings like eagles. He shall run and not grow weary and talk and not be faint.’”
Cricket stats gurus CricViz have revealed Labuschagne is statistically the luckiest player in world cricket – with dropped catches and front foot no balls benefiting him at a fascinating rate over his first 33 Tests.
Other less lucky members of the Australian dressing room have marvelled at the perceived good fortunate.
An out of form (and not particularly religious) Matthew Wade even went so far as to steal an Eagle sticker for his own bat, but the hilarious attempt to harness the Labuschagne halo backfired in what turned out to be his last Test.
“Wadey put it on his bat and got strangled (caught down leg side) first ball,” Steve Smith told News Corp.
“He knew. The man upstairs knew it wasn’t real.”
Labuschagne said once players discovered Wade had tried to quietly stick the Eagle on his own bat they’ve never let the Tasmanian live it down.
“You can’t just jump in! The boys absolutely let him have it,” Labuschagne said.
“He put his bat in the bin (when he got back in the dressing room). It sounds bat but it was his last Test.
“He chucked the Eagle on his bat, tried to hide it at the top. First ball, (caught) down leg.”
Labuschagne said he has never been shy about identifying as a Christian man in a sporting environment where being ‘religious’ isn’t necessarily the popular thing to be.
The banter from teammates during his younger cricketing years made for a challenging initiation, but it’s never deterred Labuschagne from being himself and being proud of it.
“I think like any young player you have your challenges when you grow up and you start playing senior cricket. The banter is more in a friendly way, but when you’re younger it’s a little bit more intimidating,” Labuschagne said.
“For me, my faith was always a part of my journey. So everyone knew that was who I was.
“There was no hiding from that.
“Even when I was at school. People knew this was me. I’ve never tried to be two different people. “I’m not trying to be Marnus who is the Christian guy that’s away from the game.
“This is Marnus. This is who I am. And this is a part of me.
“The biggest lesson I’ve learnt is you’ve just got to be who you are. You’ve just got to be who you want to be. Don’t change for other people.”
Inside the secret WhatsApp world of Cummins, JL and ScoMo
New documentary The Test captures Pat Cummins’ surprise when he’s added to a WhatsApp group called ‘Legends’, months before the other two members are voted out of power.
“I just opened up my phone then,” Cummins tells teammate Mitchell Starc shortly after being appointed Australia’s new Test captain.
“And I’ve just been added to a WhatsApp group called ‘Legends.’ … With Scott Morrison and Justin Langer in it.”
Cummins is immediately worried because he’s part of another WhatsApp group called ‘Legends’ with Starc and Josh Hazlewood.
“I thought, ‘geez, I better not get these two mixed up.’ And I did once,” Cummins told News Corp.
“I think I sent something to the Prime Minister … (about) dinner plans.”
The light-hearted moment early in Episode 1 of The Test season two, launching on Prime Video on January 13, is a brilliant piece of candid television that perfectly captures the fly-on-the-wall appeal mastered in the first documentary back in March 2020.
Chuckling with Starc about the craziness of the captaincy caper he’s just walked into, Cummins couldn’t have imagined then that within a handful of months both the Prime Minister, and more to the point, his coach would no longer be in office.
Australian cricket felt like it needed a change from Langer, but it’s clear from the first two episodes, that the new documentary misses him.
The absence of Langer and his dynamic and at times spicy on-screen presence from the second series leaves a hole that cannot be filled.
Say what you like about Langer, but whenever he appeared in the first season there was intrigue over the imprint he was having on a team that was on an important journey of transition.
What had viewers engrossed the first time around was Langer’s verbal dressing room clashes with players, his kicking over of dust bins and passionate addresses.
The calm environment created by Cummins and new coach Andrew McDonald is doing wonders for the Australian team at the moment after another comprehensive summer victory, but harmony doesn’t necessarily make for TV drama.
The Test season two still provides great insight, and the unprecedented access which takes viewers into the sacred Australian dressing room never gets dry.
This series focuses more on delving deeper into the personal stories of the players, and the personalities of the likes of Marnus Labuschagne, Usman Khawaja, Scott Boland and Cummins himself shine brightly.
But there is no question, the documentary misses Langer’s engaging and high voltage presence.
Especially because the team wins so comprehensively against England that there isn’t as much cricketing tension to underwrite the plot (although that will come in episodes 3 and 4 which will focus on more combative series against Pakistan and Sri Lanka).
Director Adrian Brown denies losing the coach halfway through the series made it harder.
“No, not so much because we always knew going in, this is the players’ story this time,” Brown said.
It remains to be seen how documentary makers will showcase Langer’s turbulent divorce from Cricket Australia in episode 3, but in the first two episodes, the subject of the coach’s relationship with players is only lightly touched on.
Cummins said he loves the way the personalities of his players comes across as viewers get to see the real people behind the baggy green.
“Seeing those (stories), the context around it, seeing the family and what drives them outside of cricket. Even as a mate of a lot of these guys I like to see it first-hand,” Cummins said.
“I love sports documentaries. When it’s people you know as well, it gives it that little bit extra.
Starc praised Cummins for the environment created – which he says is the best he’s ever experienced in his decade-long Test career.
“It’s just a happy group at the moment on and off the field. And I think we’ll see that in the documentary,” Starc said.
“ … I think the last 18 months-24 months has been as happy a group and together a group as I’ve seen and that comes from the players and staff we have in this group.”
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