Marnus Labuschagne rises to millionaires’ row

Marnus Labuschagne has been on minimum wage ($275k), but the star batsman will soon be on millionaire’s row.

Australian batsman Marnus Labuschagne has risen to No 5 in the world rankings

Marnus Labuschagne has been working for a minimum wage in 2019, but the batsman who has shot to No 5 in the world rankings and now been picked in Australia’s ODI squad will be living on millionaires’ row come contract time in 2020.

The rise and rise of the impish Queenslander was clearly not predicted by selectors who failed to give him a contract earlier this year.

The equal and opposite reaction in this case is the decision to snub Usman Khawaja who now finds himself out of the Test and ODI sides.

Snubbed by the national team Labuschagne took a small offer to go to Glamorgan. He became the first batsman in England to score 1000 first-class runs, and while his five centuries were enough to see him included in the squad for the Ashes, he was not picked for the first two Test matches.

A Jofra Archer-induced concussion to Steve Smith saw him included in the second half of the Lord’s Test and now he is the first and only batsman in the world who has scored 1000 Test runs in the calendar year (at an average of 68). Three consecutive centuries on return home were another clear message to anybody considering his place in the pecking order.

The 25-year-old has scored a total of 2621 runs across both forms — 1000 more than anyone else in the world this year.

Marnus Labuschagne is becoming a fan favourite after stellar batting performances

Overnight Labuschagne appeared at No 5 in the ICC Test rankings, moving up from eighth. Mitchell Starc was another rising star, moving to fifth place among the bowlers.

The run of success and inclusion in the ODIs ensure Labuschagne of a huge pay rise when the contracts are handed out. He is on a minimum wage of about $275,000 a year after qualifying for an entry-level contract by playing in the Ashes, but he can add at least another $1 million to that now that he is secure at No 3 and playing two forms of the game.

Labuschagne came to the Australian selectors’ attention thanks to his limited-overs form and was a surprise pick for a Test debut in 2018. He has now displaced his state skipper, Khawaja, in both the Test and ODI sides.

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The exclusion of Khawaja, who is about to turn 33, from the squad for next month’s tour of India is interesting. Coach Justin Langer has often said his absence in the finals of the World Cup cost Australia a chance to go further. He and Shaun Marsh — who was the fifth-highest scorer in the domestic one-day game behind Khawaja — have both been overlooked.

At 36, Marsh may be paying the price for his age as the side concentrates on the next World Cup cycle. Khawaja scored 1085 runs at an average of 49 and two centuries in ODIs this year — the hundreds both coming in India where this series will be played.

Langer said Labuschagne “deserved” the call-up to make his ODI debut.

“His one-day record is brilliant for Queensland and there’s two things about the one-day team. One thing we’ve got one eye to the T20 world cup and we’ve also talked about being really role specific and looking for guys who can finish.

“You would realise with the selection for example of Peter Handscomb last year against spin bowling, he’s a very, very well respected player of spin bowling. He did a great job for us and was really unlucky to miss out on the World Cup in different conditions.

“Marnus is the same. He’s a very good player of spin bowling. Going to India for three one-dayers, he’s a good fielder, he bowls legspin, he gives us some good options and he’s in the form of his life. Hopefully that’s going to work out to be a good selection as well.”

Langer said Marsh and Khawaja were the “unluckiest blokes in Australia”.

Usman Khawaja is on the outer in both Test and ODI formats. Picture: Phil Hillyard

With Smith expected to bat at three Labuschagne was considered better suited to the middle order and a better allround package. Glenn Maxwell was another who was overlooked, coach Justin Langer citing his poor performance in the World Cup. The talented allrounder is returning to the game after a break to deal with mental health issues.

“Obviously we can’t wait to see Glenn playing Big Bash again,” Langer said. “As I’ve said many, many times we love having him in the team, we love his energy, we love his talent, we love what he can bring. But the truth is he hasn’t performed very well over the past 12 months or so for the Australian cricket team. We had to take that into account and he hadn’t played much competitive cricket either. But he hasn’t performed that well.”

Marcus Stoinis, Nathan Lyon and Nathan Coulter-Nile are the other players dropped, while Jason Behrendorff is injured.

Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar and Ashton Turner were all added to the squad.

Recently appointed assistant coach Andrew McDonald will lead the side when it plays the three ODIs in India with Langer taking time to rest.