‘Beggars can’t be choosers’: Labuschagne on his last chance at Lord’s

London: Usman Khawaja jokes that Marnus Labuschagne still has a case of “openingitis” from two years ago, but believes that the number three will gratefully take what amounts to a last chance to retain his Test spot by shifting to the top of the order at Lord’s this week.

Labuschagne will almost certainly open the batting alongside Khawaja in the world Test championship final on Wednesday, making room for Cameron Green to return to the side at three and keeping teenager Sam Konstas out of the 11.

Marnus Labuschagne and Usman Khawaja.Credit: AP

With plenty of eagerness among the selectors to return Konstas to the team, and the versatile Josh Inglis also nipping at the heels of the incumbents after making a debut Test hundred in Sri Lanka earlier in the year, Labuschagne needs to make in impact in the showpiece final against the Proteas.

“He’s not over it no, but you don’t always get to choose in Australia,” Khawaja said of the “openingitis” gag that he made when Labuschagne was being spoken of as possible replacement for David Warner. “We’ve got six of the best batsmen in the country, plenty of times where I’d prefer to bat in other positions, but beggars can’t be choosers.

“So you just be humble that you’re playing for Australia and you take what you get and make the most out of it. It’s a team game and I know the best place to bat for the team is to open, so I’m very happy to open and do my thing. I’m sure if it’s the same for Marnus [and] he will 100 per cent take that role. An opener can get out first ball then you’re batting with number three anyway. So it’s not that big a deal.”

Labuschagne will be Khawaja’s fifth opening partner in nine Tests after Steve Smith (now reinstated to number four), Nathan McSweeney, Konstas and Travis Head.

Sam Konstas took the cricket world by storm with his unconventional approach at the MCG on debut.Credit: Getty Images

“Opening has been a revolving door for a long time, but I think it just shows you how hard opening is,” Khawaja said. “It’s not an easy place to bat. Davey had a lot of opening partners, and I’ve had a few since Davey’s gone. It’s just a tough place to bat. Test cricket is the hardest cauldron there is, there’s nowhere to hide.”

There is some symmetry to Labuschagne’s arrival at Lord’s with his Test place in danger. It was here in 2019 that he made a memorable Ashes introduction as a concussion substitute for Smith, helping to save a game for Australia with a sturdy half century after getting smashed on the helmet grille by Jofra Archer.

Back then, much was made of Labuschagne’s willingness to bat anywhere and do anything for the team, having first volunteered to bat three for Australia against India in January 2019 at the SCG.

Now he finds himself in a similar position to Warner in 2023, when the selectors were preparing to dump the opener from the Test side early in that year’s Ashes series if he didn’t show some value for the team in the WTC final against India at the Oval. Warner responded with some vital contributions both there and at Lord’s against England to shore up his spot before his retirement in January 2024.

Now the issue is similar – not just a lack of runs but a question of intent to score. Both Warner and Labuschagne are at their best when putting pressure back on bowlers. Labuschagne’s scoring rate slid from the mid-50s in his first four years as a Test player to the low 40s in 2023 and 2024, as his average dipped into the low 30s.

One thing the Australians will be keen to avoid is a repeat of the painful partnership between Khawaja and Labuschagne in the first innings of the Oval Ashes Test in 2023, when they took about 25 overs to eke out 42 runs. Stuart Broad’s famed bail flip took place shortly before Labuschagne got out, but it is the lack of any pressure imposed on the bowlers beforehand that the selectors remember.

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