Process delivers results for Labuschagne
Having strung together a bounty year in Test cricket after making an appearance midway through the 2019 Ashes series in England, Australia batsman Marnus Labuschagne offered a peek into his mindset and thinking that has catapulted him to much success as his team’s No.3 batsman.Since replacing Steve Smith as Test cricket’s first ever concussion substitute, Labuschagne has accumulated 1104 runs in 17 innings, the highest run tally for any batsman in Tests this year.
These performances have taken him up from a ranking of 82 on the MRF Tyres ICC Test Rankings for Batting from when he first arrived as a sub to No.4 on the list, only behind the big three of Virat Kohli, his team-mate Smith, and Kane Williamson.
After tallying 353 runs in seven innings, including four fifties, to finish as Australia’s second-highest run-getter in the Ashes, Labuschagne maintained a remarkably consistent level of performance in the home summer, notching up three centuries and two half-centuries across six innings against Pakistan and New Zealand, operating at an average of 103.66 at home.
“I just keeping it process-driven and not on results,” Labuschange told cricket.com.au, after Australia’s series-clinching victory in the second Test in Perth. “Making sure that every innings I come in with a clear mind and making sure I’m playing what’s in front of me and not what’s happened in the past and not what I want to achieve – it’s right in the moment.”Apart from that, I’m just loving it. It’s a great team to be a part of, and the way we’re playing at the moment is really enjoyable.”
The strategy has has reaped rich rewards for Labuschagne so far, as he caps the year as Australia’s find of the season.
His red-hot Test form has earned him a call-up to Australia’s ODI squad for the tour of India next year, when they play three ODIs between January 14 and 19. With a home ICC Men’s T20 World Cup approaching, the time is ripe for Labuschagne to translate his red-ball success and become a force to reckon with across formats.
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