Marnus Labuschagne’s Australian Test spot in danger unless he can overcome his worst enemy

Marnus Labuschagne was blessed by lady luck early in his career. ROBERT CRADDOCK asks if his latest slump is the cricketing gods evening the ledger, or if he has become his own worst enemy.

Is it possible to love a game too much?

Or is the sharp decline of Marnus Labuschagne more about Mother Cricket simply adjusting her balance sheet after she spoiled him early?

Remember those stories that went around in early 2022 about Labuschagne being the world’s luckiest cricketer and how, incredibly, 16 of the first 41 chances he gave in Tests were muffed.

It made him look slightly better than he was. There simply had to be adjustment, though few would have thought the correction would be as sharp as this.

These days when Labuschagne stumbles it is normally the end of his innings. That’s life in the jungle of Test cricket.

Marnus Labuschagne is caught LBW in the dying light of day 3 in Perth. Picture: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images.

As Labuschagne fights for his Test future after a rugged year (330 runs at 23 since last Boxing Day) it has become clear his battle is not so much Marnus versus India as Marnus v Marnus.

Has the man with a million cricket theories got too many flying around in his own head?

Apart from his own theories there’s countless opinions floating around about Marnus and many have merit.

Kerry O’Keeffe observed on Fox it’s time to “unclutter’’ Marnus’ mind by putting those unpretentious seamers and his dusty leg-spinners back in the kit bag. Just bat.

Simon Katich noted that in his two runs of 52 balls in the first innings Labuschagne may have been trying to fulfil his pre-series wish of batting like Indian stonewall Cheteshwar Pujara and had a mindset to leave the dangerous ball rather than risk edging it.

That’s fine but an obsession with letting the ball go prompted him to leave one which would have taken middle stump in the second innings. That’s what you call a scrambled radar. A man overthinking.

Damien Fleming pointed out that “Crazy Marnus,’’ the man with the extravagant leaves and ultra-louds calls, has somehow vanished with his reduced run flow.

He’s right. Maybe he needs to simply be himself – Crazy Marnus – to be cashing in.

The thing about Labuschagne is that his passion for the game is so extreme it is his best friend when he is going well but can ride him into the ground when he is out of form.

Marnus Labuschagne’s runs scored and average till December 2022. Picture: Supplied

Marnus Labuschagne’s runs scored and average since December 2022. Picture: Supplied

Often a key to long-serving players is getting away from the game in the way that Hayden went fishing, Ricky Ponting would play golf, Steve Waugh would grab his camera and go sightseeing and twin Mark would go to the trots.

Labuschagne has other interests too but his mind is never far away from cricket.

There are calls to drop him for Josh Inglis which are understandable.

But it really does illustrate how poor Australia’s batting stocks are in that a player who once averaged over 60 in Tests could be replaced by a wicketkeeper averaging 36 in Sheffield Shield and other first class games.

A few generations ago Australia had supreme batting depth in its Sheffield Shield. Now it’s as shallow as a baby’s bath tub.

Originally published as Marnus Labuschagne’s Australian Test spot in danger unless he can overcome his worst enemy