“You’re so much better, Marn … You’re so much better than this.”
Marnus Labuschagne is talking to himself, about himself. It’s a pretty regular occurrence.
But this vocal self-dialogue sounds a lot more intense. Like Marnus genuinely feels let down by, well, Marnus. We’re in the nets at the Adelaide Oval and it’s the eve of the ODI against Pakistan in early November. The Queenslander is facing the white ball but clearly has his head and his eyes set on the Test series ahead. Even if he is playing a few more shots in anger than he would otherwise. The final hit is while facing batting coach Michael Di Venuto, and it’s a perfect straight drive that comes off the middle of his bat. He yells out, “that’s perfect for the camera that”. He’s happy with it, sort of anyway. A few deliveries earlier, a similar attempt to punch the ball down the ground had resulted in an inside-edge, which had triggered a “That’s a bad shot, boys”. Except that all his teammates had already left.
It’s only him and Di Venuto.
That session was nearly three months ago. The thing is that we knew Marnus was so much better than what we’d been seeing of him then. That was just before the start of the international summer with his Test average having just slipped under 50 for the first time in ore than five years.
Here we are in February, at the end of the summer, with his Test average having dipped further to 46.48. And we still know Marn is so much better than what we’ve seen. He does too.
The problem is he might not have a lot of time left in the immediate future to show us he’s better than this. To remind himself that he’s better than this.
On Friday morning, Labuschagne was trapped lbw by Prabath Jayasuriya as he went back and played the wrong line.
It was a classic dismissal for Sri Lanka’s premier left-arm spinner. It was a worrying dismissal for Australia’s No.3. He was the only batter in the top six to miss out in the first Test last week on a much more comfortable pitch to bat on in Galle. That leaves him with an average of 27 with the bat for the 2024-25 season.
There were some returns of note during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, three vital contributions in two significant victories against the Indians.
His 64 and partnership with Nathan McSweeney, at the Adelaide Oval, followed by a pair of seventies at the MCG.
He only got to double digits once in his other six knocks during the series. That was the 12 in the first innings at the Gabba, which is also his average on this tour of Sri Lanka so far.
Marnus’s next assignment will be the Champions Trophy, which will mean that he will only get at best the final round of the Sheffield Shield to finish the first-class season in Australia on a high.
There is of course potentially one more innings left for him in Galle, and there’s nothing like a matchwinning knock in a tricky run-chase to bolster his morale and his shaky position in the pecking order.
For the longest time, there weren’t any viable candidates to evict him from No.3 or even take his place in the side. Now, there are options. Some very promising and noteworthy ones.
McSweeney, who he’s mentored along the way, to start with. The one-drop position is, after all, the South Australian captain’s natural slot. Then there’s the in-form Josh Inglis, fresh off a breathtaking Test century on debut, even if he might slip in more at No.6 behind Travis Head at the World Test Championship final at Lord’s.
The ultimate fact is that Cameron Green will be back by June, and he’ll walk straight back into the playing XI. And very possibly at No.4, which is where he’s looked his best and where the Australian selectors see him as a long-term option. That should mean Smith potentially moving up to No.3, and Marnus’s place in the side being under serious threat.
At 30, Marnus is still at the prime of his career, but there are the younger likes of Sam Konstas and Cooper Connolly breaking through the system as well. The pressure is well and truly on.
And it’s probably beginning to show. It was very interesting watching Marnus on the Thursday morning here in Galle. He was out in the nets as is the norm with him, facing throwdowns. He then walked back on to the field and stood behind the side pitch where the Sri Lankan spinners were going through their bowling routines.
He shadow-practised a few defensive shots from that spot, as if he was visualising facing them already. Marnus then joined the rest of the team in the customary huddle before start of play.
While the others stood around listening to the coaches, Marnus was the only one sitting down, on an esky, tossing a ball around, only occasionally responding to what was being said and clapping along when everyone else did.
He seemed to instead be lost in deep thought, rather than be his natural cherubic self. Like he was already in the middle facing Jayasuriya in his mind. Unfortunately for Marnus, when his chance did come to do so in the middle, he lasted all of six deliveries.
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