Labuschagne hits Shield ton as Konstas fails again
Roger Vaughan |
Marnus Labuschagne has credited Steve Smith’s influence for helping him rebuild his game after he was dropped from the Australian Test team.
Labuschagne took a major step towards reclaiming his berth for the first Ashes Test by top-scoring for Queensland on Monday in their Sheffield Shield match against Tasmania at Allan Border Field.
While his 160 was not perfect, Labuschagne clearly won round one of the informal Shield bat-off for top-order spots ahead of the Ashes opener from November 21 in Perth.
After a mammoth first innings of 612, Queensland were well-placed at stumps on day three, with Tasmania 1-62 in their second innings and trailling by 171.
Labuschagne was dropped for the Test series in the West Indies after Australia’s World Test Championship final defeat to South Africa in June.
While the Queensland No.3 starred in the Bulls’ Shield opener, on the other side of the country incumbent Test opener Sam Konstas notably failed again for NSW in their match against WA.
Labuschagne said after Monday’s play that Smith had loomed large in his thinking after he lost his Test berth.
“It’s always nice to score a hundred and to get the team in a position where we can win the game on day four, it’s always a good thing,” Labuschagne said.
“I felt good out there. It felt like I was reading the conditions well. I took the game on at certain times.
“I feel like I’ve really stripped it back and my focus is just scoring runs – it’s not really too technical … just what I need out there to score runs.
“The nice thing is, over the last six or seven years, I’ve played with one of the best players in the world and learned a lot from him.
“So having a technique that’s adjustable and something that I can just use, rather than work out what’s the exact, perfect way to play – just going back to find a way to score runs.”
Labuschagne also scored a domestic one-day century last month.
National selector George Bailey was present in Brisbane as Labuschagne flourished after taking 12 balls to get off the mark.
His big Shield innings was not flawless – he was dropped on 61 and nearly blew his century with a wild swipe on 98.
Labuschagne went down the wicket to spinner Nivethan Radhakrishnan and wicketkeeper Jake Doran could not take the chance. It was either a dropped catch or a missed stumping.
The ball ricocheted off Doran’s glove and landed clear of Jackson Bird at first slip.
Soon afterwards, Labuschagne brought up his 33rd first-class century with an all-run four.
Labuschagne hit 17 fours and two sixes and only faced 206 deliveries.
Queensland took control with their huge first innings, with opener Matt Renshaw (128) also putting his hand up for a Test recall and current opener Usman Khawaja (69) impressing.
The pick of the Tasmanian attack was legspinner Nihil Chaudhary, the Indian-born allrounder who plays for the Hobart Hurricanes in the BBL.
Making his first-class debut, Chaudhary also starred with 5-108.
He found out only two days before the match that he was playing.
“Nothing can get better than having a five-for on debut,” Chaudhary said.
AAP
