Australia vs Pakistan First Test Day 3: Marnus Labuschagne puts hosts in charge

Australia's fast bowlers turned the screws on Pakistan on a dominant day which featured a monster breakthrough century for Marnus Labuschagne-  and left Pakistan facing an enormous task to save the first Test.

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Nine years after he was paid $90 to move the hot spot camera around the Gabba, Marnus Labuschagne announced himself as the hottest prospect in Australian cricket.

England rival Jonny Bairstow sledged Labuschagne during the Ashes for trying to mimic Steve Smith’s mannerisms, but the Queenslander via Klerksdorp, South Africa, is making no apologies, embracing the “peculiar” sequence of events that has led to a maiden Test hundred.

Ricky Ponting’s retirement left a void at No.3 which Australia has never permanently filled, but Labuschagne’s commanding 185 in Brisbane suggests he could be the man.

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Marnus Labuschagne celebrates his breakthrough century. Picture: AAP

It might seem funny that he leaves the ball like Smith and expresses himself like Smith, but the key fact is he scores like Smith, as Labuschagne confirmed his rise as one of Australia’s great success stories on a rare day when the world’s best was kept quiet.

“I’ve said it for a long time, Jonny Bairstow sprayed me in the Ashes for leaving the ball like him (Smith). I said it’s not a bad person to copy,” said Labuschagne.

“I’m quite a visual learner so sub-consciously maybe … by no means am I consciously trying to copy what he does, but there’s definitely a lot of stuff I’ve learnt from him and the way he plays that I’ve taken on board in my own game.”

Australia has a broken Pakistan at their mercy in Brisbane after Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins followed into the Labuschagne slipstream to decimate the top order and set up the inevitability of a day four triumph.

Starc continued his emphatic Ashes rebound to knock over two quick wickets in the final chapter of the day, after Australia was ultimately bowled out for 580, leaving Pakistan 3-64 at stumps and still a demoralising 276 runs in arrears.

It was fitting that the Gabba should play host to the most special moment of Labuschagne’s blossoming career, given it’s where he held a part-time job as a teenager, and then in 2014 returned as an unknown substitute fielder, taking a spectacular catch for Australia.

He woke up in his Brisbane hotel room at 3am on Saturday morning unable to stop thinking about cricket. But then his boyhood dream came true.

“My career so far has been a bit peculiar to be honest,” he said.

Marnus Labuschagne walks off the Gabba after scoring a superb 185. Picture: Getty

“I took a catch, a wicket and a run-out before I got a run. There’s a time there in Dubai (on Test debut last year) when I didn’t think I was going to make a Test run.

“(Then in the Ashes I was a) concussion sub. Came in and took a catch as a 12th man. The strange things just keep on piling up on each other.

“There was definitely times out there (Saturday) where I was like, ‘geez, just let me get there.’

“I believed I was going to play for Australia but the way it’s all unfolded is definitely not the way I pictured it in my mind. The ups and downs that’s the greatest thing about it.”

Selectors were originally ridiculed when they plucked Labuschagne from the clouds 13 months ago to debut against Pakistan in the UAE, when other candidates like Glenn Maxwell presented better numbers.

However, in a very short space of time, Labuschagne has proven one of the most inspired selections in recent memory.

At a time when very few Sheffield Shield batsmen average 40, Labuschagne – who averaged 33 when first selected – is the poster boy for the gut feel.

Last year when Australia made wholesale changes for the fourth and final Test against India, they were looking for a No.3.

It’s understood Labuschagne was thrust ahead of more seasoned candidates, because he simply wanted it.

Saturday was the first time in 125 innings that Smith finished as the lowest scorer in an Australian innings.

There was an audible gasp around the Gabba when he was bowled by Yasir Shah for 4 when there was an all you can eat buffet of runs available.

But at the other end was another batsman, just as hungry.

Originally published as Australia vs Pakistan First Test Day 3: Marnus Labuschagne puts hosts in charge