Australia v NZ cricket: Marnus Labuschagne finds his feet again

Labuschagne’s unbeaten 45 not only saved the blushes for Australia, it was also the kind of innings he and the rest of Australia have been waiting on for a long while.

Australia's Marnus Labuschagne bats on day one of the second Test against New Zealand. Picture: AFP

“Where are we going with this, Marn?”

Marnus Labuschagne is talking to himself. As he usually does during most of his net sessions. It’s not said with any angst or any anguish. He’s in fact questioning his decision to stay back and continue batting. Rather than having walked out a few deliveries earlier, after he’d played the most pleasing of drives. It ticked every box. Timing, placement and the way his hands, body and head were aligned as he leant into the ball.

He’d even yelled out, “That’s it, Marn. Finish up, Marn. I should just get out now,” to coach Michael Di Venuto, who simply smiled without even bothering to play along. Di Venuto knew Labuschagne was not going to be done so soon. Di Venuto knew it’d be a while before his shoulder got a much-needed break.

And now Labuschagne was wondering if he’d made the right call by not leaving because he’d played a couple of false strokes, the latest an inside-edge that nearly smashed into his stumps.

After taking a moment or two to gather his thoughts, Labuschagne whispered, “Need two more shots here, Marn” and yelled out the same to the assistant coach. Six more balls from Di Venuto for at least two good shots. The first “good shot” was a well-timed clip through a virtual mid-wicket, much like the one he picked up his second boundary with at the Hagley Oval on Friday.

The second a solid backfoot defence to a length ball that resembled the many he would keep out from Matt Henry during his best Test innings in a long time. Labuschagne’s unbeaten 45 not only saved the blushes for Australia and ensured they still have their nose in front in the second Test, it was also the kind of innings he and the rest of Australia have been waiting on for a long while. It was also an innings that has convinced me the big turnaround in form is finally here, and that the elusive big score is upon us.

There are many, after all, who have wondered, “Where are we going with this, Marn?” during this Test summer in particular. Like he did two days out from the Test.

Labuschagne looked a lot more at ease with himself and his technique a day later, on the eve of the Christchurch Test. Firstly, he was joking around a lot more with his teammates, always a sign that he’s in a good space with his batting. The No.3 then also was heard telling fellow Queenslander Matt Renshaw in the adjoining net that he’d been feeling a “lot better” about his batting and that he was at peace with the way it was shaping up in the lead up to the final Test for Australia and Labuschagne for nearly eight months. On Thursday, he reverted to what he’d said to me in an interview last week about his net sessions for this series.

“More energy, less time or same amount of energy and time but make sure I don’t just bat for three hours while going through the motions,” he’d said.

Labuschagne had even cut down his net sessions to not more than 35 minutes each in Wellington. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to change his fortunes in the middle, as he ended up playing one of his most unsettled knocks ever, edging a length delivery to the slips after having looked terribly edgy. He’d spent most of his time remarking his guard or shadow practising leaving deliveries while looking a bit out of sorts.

To his credit, he did look a lot more like the Labuschagne of old in the second innings, even if he did only manage a couple of runs in his 13-ball stay before being strangled down the leg-side. I really did think he’d turned the corner in that short stay.

So did he. But perhaps he needed a more routinely longer session to kick things off in Christchurch. Or perhaps he was indeed debating whether less really is more or is more and more the way to go, as it has been for him throughout his Test career.

Another aspect of his batting that Labuschagne had spoken about getting potentially wrong was overfocusing on what was happening at his end, in terms of worrying about where his hands and head were at, instead of “what matters more”, which is getting on top of the bowlers to score runs off them.

It has been very evident on that front that Labuschagne hasn’t overdone his natural obsession over getting his technique exactly the way he thinks he needs it to be. Not once has he asked me to stand right behind the net to see where his backfoot is, like has been our routine in the past. Nor has he concentrated on tinkering with the finer aspects of his trigger movements. For example, in England, when he used four different guards over the five Ashes Tests: from leg and middle to off to leg to middle and off and back again.

He’s instead kept his word to himself about solely being keen on finding ways to put pressure on the bowlers. Like walking down the pitch to negate the movement Henry and Tim Southee were getting off the Hagley Oval pitch, just like he has been doing in the nets to the relatively slower net bowlers he’s faced.

He’d even brought the “nawwww runnn” back for the nets in Wellington, trying to go back to bringing that intensity that was so much a part of his repertoire when he was scoring Test runs for fun.

“You know they’ll give you one. Every now and then,” is what Di Venuto had told him at one point on Wednesday, when a ball was pitched up to him for a cover drive. And that did happen a couple of times on Friday after Labuschagne had done the hard work of seeing off the challenges at the start. The two shots that stood out were the clips through mid-wicket and the leg glance off deliveries that were pitched on middle-stump. They were perfect illustrations of how Labuschagne was in the perfect mind space and also the perfect rhythm to not just survive but also score runs.

It was the first time he’d walked out to bat with his Test average under 50 in over five years. Based on how he’s looked at the crease already, it’s safe to say he won’t have to do it again. And we’ll all know, starting with himself, where Marn is going with it.