Marnus Labuschagne is in the middle of an ongoing form slump and according to Australian cricket great Mark Waugh, there is a “worrying sign” as to why he may be struggling to shake it.
Labuschagne managed just three runs in the first Test against New Zealand, having now brought up just one century in his past 37 knocks while averaging 22.90 since the start of the home summer.
Skipper Pat Cummins was quick to defend the struggling Labuschagne in the wake of Australia’s 172-run over their trans-Tasman rivals, emphatically shutting down any talk he may be at risk of losing his spot in the Test side.
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“Absolutely not,” Cummins said.
Waugh agrees that selectors “will show faith” in Labuschagne given the high standard he set himself by the end of 2022, averaging just below 60 runs.
“Which is almost impossible to keep up with,” Waugh added, speaking on Fox Sports’ ‘The Back Page’ on Tuesday night.
“But the worrying sign for me about Marnus is he’s so intense. He’s 24 hours a day — eats, sleeps and drinks cricket. And I wonder when you get in a bit of a rut, is that going to suffocate you?
“So he needs to break free of that.”
Waugh went on to even claim that a friend of his saw Labuschagne shadow batting in a department store before the Boxing Day Test match.
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“He was in there with his tracksuit on, he had a backpack on and he had his bat and he was shadow batting in the department store,” Waugh said.
Australian coach Andrew McDonald backed up Cummins earlier this week in telling reporters there is not “any great concern” with Labuschagne despite his recent struggles.
“Can he perform better? No doubt about that. Does he know that he knows that? Is he working on it? Yes,” McDonald said.
“I said this last week. I said it a couple of weeks ago as well, but over time, there’s going to be some ebbs and flows in your career.”
That is a point Waugh stressed too, adding that “a bit of luck” may also be all Labuschagne needs to turn his form around.
“I think the selectors will show faith in Marnus,” Waugh said.
“He’s got a few credits in the bank, let’s be fair. He’s a fantastic player. He’s going through a rut. If he can just forget about batting 24 hours a day and have a bit of luck. The first half of his career he had a bit of luck, [he] got dropped a few times.
“The next part of his career he’s had no luck, he’s got caught down the leg side, he’s making one mistake and he’s getting out. So, it might be as simple as having a bit of luck in the next dig and he’ll be fine.”
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