Why Marnus Labuschagne is out of World Cup calculations

What does Marnus Labuschagne need to do to elbow his way into Australia’s World Cup squad? The answer is not simply “make more runs”.

Labuschagne produced a pair of match-winning innings in the opening two ODIs in South Africa. He underlined his skills as a middle-order player, and showed evidence of personal growth after a challenge from the selectors.

Marnus Labuschagne hits out against South Africa.Credit: Getty Images

But to make the World Cup squad, he needs to change his name to Steve Smith, learn to keep wicket, bowl medium-fast, or hit sixes more often. These are the aces held by the players all set to leap past him ahead of the team’s first game of the tournament in India next month.

And the faster scoring ways of all rival players apart from Smith are essential to Australian plans to try to win the World Cup in India. In south Asia, the trophy has customarily gone to the team with the best run rate sustained over the course of the event – or close to it.

Smith, who has been afflicted by a wrist problem since midway through the Ashes campaign, emerged from holidays to show himself batting freely in the nets at Cricket NSW headquarters in Sydney on Tuesday.

“Good first hit out today in the nets, finally my wrist is starting to feel good, it’s been annoying for a while,” Smith posted to Instagram. “Hit them good today, so hopefully some positive signs for what’s coming up.”

Star all-rounder Glenn Maxwell.Credit: Getty Images

The freedom Smith demonstrated in his social media post is of the kind Glenn Maxwell will hope to emulate when he, too, returns from time at home. A cortisone injection was administered to help him shake off the latest flare-up of his repaired ankle.

That physical infirmity is not seen as a major obstacle to Maxwell’s presence in the squad. He has enjoyed a strong 50-over record since the 2019 World Cup – 613 runs at 43.78, striking at an eye-catching 132.11 runs per 100 balls.

Less imposing is the ledger of Maxwell’s Melbourne Stars teammate Marcus Stoinis, who has cobbled together 293 runs at 17.23, without passing 50 once, in 20 matches over the same period. But unlike Labuschagne, Stoinis has his seam bowling to call upon, and has recently moonlighted as a new-ball bowler.

As for Mitchell Marsh, currently the white-ball captain while Pat Cummins waits for a fractured hand to heal, an otherwise ordinary few years in 50-over games were overturned by his player of the series returns in India earlier this year. It was a performance so notable that Smith can expect to be moved down from his customary No. 3 berth to make room for Marsh’s heavy hitting.

The only other possible space for Labuschagne in Australia’s 15 would come at the expense of Josh Inglis, the back-up wicketkeeper for Alex Carey. But on the same tour when Marsh took charge with the bat, Carey fell ill on one game day, necessitating Inglis’ call-up and demonstrating why leaving him in Perth as a non-travelling reserve is fraught with risk, given the importance of keeping in 50-over games.

Moreover, Inglis’ strong suits with the bat include a 360-degree range of hitting and notable skill against spin. And with Carey still in something of a batting funk in the wake of a draining Ashes tour, the back-up of a confident gloveman is welcome.

In many ways, Labuschagne has demonstrated that he is listening to the critiques of the national selectors and team coaches. In Bloemfontein on a pair of slow pitches, he showed he has the gears and intelligence to contribute to victories.

But in a national set-up now built firmly upon the concept of settled thinking to ease the minds and free the hands of Australia’s best cricketers, a late turnabout is highly unlikely, regardless of how many runs Labuschagne makes in the remaining games.

Without an injury somewhere else in the squad, he is stuck behind Smith as the one player the Australians wish to pick as a mid-tempo batter. If they are to win the World Cup, they must emulate the teams of Allan Border in 1987, Arjuna Ranatunga’s Sri Lanka in 1996, or MS Dhoni’s India in 2011 and score faster than any of their opponents.

In an era that features a glut of fearless Twenty20 merchants and a supercharged England, in particular, this will be no easy feat.

Fastest scoring teams at south Asian ODI World Cups

1987 in India and Pakistan
India 5.32 RPO (semi-finalist)
Australia 5.2 RPO (winner)

1996 in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka 5.98 RPO (winner)
South Africa 5.49 RPO (quarter-finalist)

2011 in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh
India 5.79 RPO (winner)
Sri Lanka 5.67 RPO (finalist)