Steve Smith misses out as Marnus Labuschagne digs in to finish on high
Steve Smith and Marcus Labuschagne had a chance to give their years the polish they’d lacked, but first they had to survive.
Usman Khawaja had managed the difficult task of wresting attention from David Warner in the early parts of the summer, but after both had taken their turn on the first day at the MCG, eyes turned to another well-known cricket couple who have been flying under the radar in 2023.
With the openers gone before the afternoon rain break, Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne were left with the task of batting out a difficult session either side of a Boxing Day storm that sent the crowd of 61,000 scrambling for shelter.
Warner (38) and Khawaja had made it through the opening spell before Warner had a brain explosion on lunch, but his opening partner hung around until he, too, was found out by Hasan Ali on 42 midway through the second session.
“Shaheen (Shah Afridi) bowled a nice line and length,” Warner said. “Hasan bowled a nice length as well, probably swung the ball a little bit too far outside off stump but once he got it right bowling from the bottom end he was difficult to play.
“I think the crease wasn’t working for Aamer (Jamal) like it did in Perth, it was very soft and he was trying to get used to that.”
With two innings left in the year, Smith and Labuschagne had a chance to give their years the polish they’d lacked, but first they had to survive.
Storms were closing, the light dimming and the ball nipping all over the place as the pair kept looking to the skies and the umpires hoping for relief.
Both have something to prove in this last game before 2024.
The Australian cricket side has had a stellar 12 months, winning World Cups and World Test Championships, but Smith and Labuschagne, previously in rare air as batters, have had a middling time of it.
Smith has averaged 43.65, scoring centuries against South Africa in Sydney at the start of the year, at the Oval against India in June and at Lord’s against England later that month.
Another would have been nice, but the greatest batter of his generation just looks a little more mortal these days and was eventually found out by Aamer Jamal on 28 after the rain break.
The wicket reduced Australia to 3-154 in the last hour but the fact they had been allowed to compile this many in these conditions condemns the consistently inconsistent opposition.
Labuschagne’s year has been more modest than Smith’s. The No.1-ranked batter of previous seasons has averaged 36 and scored just one century in 2023.
Both seem reluctant to take the bowling on and England captain Michael Vaughan called out Labuschagne’s risk-free approach on the first day.
“The problem that Marnus has is that teams are just going to continuously bowl just outside of off-stump,” he said on Fox Cricket. “He’s had a couple of dismissals over recent times where he has edged a couple of drives.
“He just doesn’t look like he’s owning that channel at all.”
Labuschagne, however, is there at stumps undefeated on 44 with Travis Head on nine and the Australians to resume on 3-186.
Khawaja entered the first day of the MCG Test frustrated at the game’s refusal to allow his human rights messaging; Pakistan’s fans, coaches and players should end it frustrated at the side’s inability to make the most of the opportunity at hand.
Undermanned and under-experienced, the visitors had the pick of bowling conditions and could have made life extremely uncomfortable for the Australians, who they had invited to bat.
The Kookaburra ball swung, its seam gripped the wicket and jagged alarmingly, the bounce was tricky and the light difficult, but for over after over after over the Pakistan seamers struggled to exploit the opportunities at hand.
The side conceded 26 extras on the first day, balls flew high, wide and woeful. Shaheen Shah Afridi struck Head on the shoulder with a full toss, Aamer Jamal swelled the total with five of the wider wides you will witness.
The visitors bowled 16 no-balls in Perth and were docked two points for slow over rates, partially because they had to send so many extra deliveries down in the match.
Warner cobbled together 38 runs at the top of the order. It was about 36 more runs than he deserved but the bowling cannot take the blame in this instance.
Warner was on two when Shaheen Shah Afridi directed the ball on to the outside edge of his bat and straight to Abdullah Shafique in slips, who managed to make a mess of what should have been a simple knee-height catch.
How easy was it? Justin Langer didn’t hold back in commentary.
“It’s impossible to drop those for an international player,” Langer said. “That’s as easy a catch that you’ll ever see in Test cricket.
“You’re right, Pakistan – I said it before the Test series started, I said it before this Test – if Pakistan have got any chance of fighting back in this series, they must field better than they did.
“That’s an impossible catch to drop. While he’ll feel sick about it, it’s not acceptable at international level.”
India found limitless depth when injury struck its bowling attack here a few years back, but Pakistan’s cricket does not run as deep and the side has found itself struggling to find fit bowlers.
Khurram Shahzad, who impressed on debut in Perth, had broken down somewhere on the Nullarbor, Naseem Shah didn’t make it out of his home land, spinner Abrar Ahmed was ruled out of this match after missing the first, and back-up spinner Noman Ali has developed appendicitis.
The visitors brought Mir Hamza and Hasan Ali into the side for this Test. All their seamers are capable bowlers but all lack the pace to really challenge in Australian conditions. Pakistan has not won a Test in this country since last century but always arrived with enough pace in its attack to test batters. Waqar Younis, one of those who made life so difficult for the opposition in the past, has lamented the state of his country’s bowling stocks.
“I’m seeing medium pacers or slow-medium pacers, all-rounders, there’s no real pace,” he said this week. “People used to come and watch Pakistan pace bowlers really running in hard and bowling 150 clicks, and that’s what I’m not seeing there. That’s my worry and issue because I have not seen it at the domestic level, also.”
To join the conversation, please log in. Don't have an account? Register
Join the conversation, you are commenting as Logout