Labuschagne cops hand knock as he tries to put Edgbaston failure behind him

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Australian batsman Marnus Labuschagne’s week has gone from bad to worse. Training to improve from his least productive Test in more than four years, the pivotal No.3 went down in a painful heap after being hit on the hand during an extended net session at Lord’s.

“He kept on batting so he must’ve been OK,” Australia’s batting coach Michael Di Venuto said after training on Saturday. “Otherwise he would have walked out. He’s got a finger that has copped a couple of knocks. He just got another one.”

Labuschagne has twice been ranked the No.1 batsman in the world for more than six months, and has only just been deposed by England’s Joe Root at the top of the rankings second time around.

Yet he has done it with a modest away record. In Australia his numbers are stratospheric, averaging almost 71 with nine centuries from 22 Tests. Away his average almost halves to 37 with just one hundred from 17 Tests. His most recent outing at Edgbaston – a first ball duck and 13 – hasn’t helped.

But he’s not alone. David Warner averages 58 at home and 33 away and Travis Head’s numbers are 57 at home and 34 away. Usman Khawaja’s Test-defining and player-of-the-match winning 141 and 65 in Birmingham has left him with an average of 55 at home and 42 away.

The one exception is the remarkable Steve Smith, who averages 65 at home with 16 centuries and 55 away with 15 hundreds, an average that dropped after 16 and six in the first Test.

Marnus Labuschagne heads to Lord’s on the back of his worst Test return in five years.Credit: Getty

The Australians consider it a bonus that they were able to scramble to a dramatic two-wicket victory at Edgbaston late on the fifth day with neither Smith nor Labuschagne making a contribution.

But Smith is coming off a sparkling century against India in the World Test Championship final, which Australia won by 209 runs at the Oval earlier this month, while Labuschagne is trending down. Following three successive centuries against the West Indies in December, when his overall average climbed to 61, he has managed just two half-centuries in his past 17 innings and that average is now 55.

A 39-Test veteran, Edgbaston was Labuschagne’s worst double failure since his fifth Test, a day/night match against Sri Lanka in early 2019.

The most disconcerting part of Labuschagne’s failures in the first Test is the way he got out, caught behind hanging the bat against Stuart Broad to balls outside the off stump he would regularly leave.

Labuschagne was twice dismissed by Australia’s nemesis Stuart Broad at Edgbaston.Credit: Getty

Former England captain Nasser Hussain was not impressed, questioning whether his time playing county cricket ahead of the Ashes was counterproductive.

“It was surprising to watch Marnus Labuschagne bat on off-stump at Edgbaston, and I wonder if it was something that started during his time with Glamorgan,” Hussain wrote in his Daily Mail column.

“Usually, he’d take a middle or middle-and-off-stump guard, but it’s possible he’s been trying to get outside the line of off stump on those slow, low wickets at Cardiff to lessen the chances of falling lbw. He did the same thing against India at the Oval during the World Test Championship final, so it’s an issue that has crept into his game.

“At Edgbaston, Stuart Broad twice had Labuschagne feeling on a fourth- or fifth-stump line for deliveries which he would normally be leaving alone with one of those lightsaber flourishes above his head.

“Now his off-stump guard means he is playing at those balls, and that brings the outside edge into play.

“The question is whether he can change his technique in the week before Lord’s.”

The answer is yes, according to Di Venuto after an optional net session at Lord’s ahead of the second Test, which begins on Wednesday. Labuschagne and Smith were the only two players from the first Test who attended training along with the extra squad members.

“It was back being normal,” Di Venuto said of Labuschagne’s batting in the nets. “I hadn’t seen what happened in the first Test before. It certainly didn’t happen the week before at the Oval. Whatever it was, hopefully it was brief and he can get back to normal this week.”

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