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.
In Perth, stand-in NSW captain Nathan Lyon has provided stubborn late-order resistance that might prove crucial as the bowlers continued to dominate the Sheffield Shield match in Perth.
After 13 wickets fell on day three at the WACA Ground, openers Cam Bancroft and Sam Whiteman survived four overs late on Monday.
That left the home side 0-9, needing 222 to win this Sheffield Shield opener.
NSW and Australian opener Sam Konstas failed again as he tries to shore up his berth for the first Ashes Test, but he had plenty of top-order mates.
So far, the highest total at the fall of the third wicket in the match has been a paltry 23, while Sunday’s play featured 14 dismissals.
Konstas fell for 14 on Monday after making four in the first innings, while NSW No.3 Kurtis Patterson also did not advance his national cause with scores of eight and four.
Bancroft is another Test hopeful needing a major knock after being fired out for 10 in WA’s first innings.
Typical of how the match has gone, the first delivery of the morning from NSW paceman Ryan Hadley was a perfect yorker that bowled Matthew Kelly for 20.
That left NSW 8-116, with rearguard knocks from Ashton Agar (23), Cameron Gannon (12) and Corey Rocchiccioli (23) helping the final score to 161.
Hadley claimed 5-38, his first five-wicket haul in first-class cricket.
WA suffered a blow when opening bowler Joel Paris only managed one over before departing with a left hamstring injury.
Test all-rounder Cameron Green also did not bowl on Monday as he continues to return from back surgery.
But Kelly stood tall with 5-43. When he bowled Liam Hatcher for a duck, NSW were 9-189.
Lyon then dug in, with the Test off-spinner scoring 40 from 57 balls, featuring six fours and a six.
While the pitch appeared to be playing better late on day three, Lyon’s knock added some crucial meat to the bare-looking NSW bones.
Blues No.7 Will Salzmann again starred in his first-class debut.
The 21-year-old backed up his first-innings 43 by top-scoring with 72 on Monday.
In Adelaide, Peter Handscomb has reminded Australian Test selectors of his talents, scoring another Sheffield Shield century against SA.
After the Victorian captain top scored with 103 on Monday at Adelaide Oval and declared seven runs behind the home side, a crucial sixth-wicket stand rescued the day for SA.
Daniel Drew (42no) and Harry Neilsen (41no) took SA from a precarious 5-82 to 169 at stumps, a lead of 176 going into the last day.
Resuming on 38 with the score 3-167, Handscomb anchored the Victorian innings on day three.
In reply to SA’s 350, they were in trouble at 6-199 before Handscomb combined with Fergus O’Neill for a seventh-wicket stand of 125.
Spinner Lloyd Pope had O’Neill caught-and-bowled for 64 and Pope dismissed Handscomb, caught by Jordan Buckingham in the deep for the eighth wicket.
Handscomb, whose most recent Test was in March 2023, faced 180 balls and hit seven fours and two sixes.
Half of his 18 Shield tons have been against SA.
Handscomb declared at 9-343, with Pope and Hanno Jacobs taking three wickets apiece.
SA steadily lost early wickets in their second innings. After a duck in his first dig, No.3 and Test hopeful Nathan McSweeney was dismissed for six.
Opener Henry Hunt and Jake Lehmann starred with centuries in SA’s first innings. But when impressive Victorian left-arm spinner Doug Warren dismissed them in successive overs, the home side was five down for not nearly enough.
That brought together Drew and Neilsen, who grew in confidence as they batted through to stumps.
Warren had claimed 3-61 from 19 overs.
with AAP