{"id":453014,"date":"2025-06-12T01:14:52","date_gmt":"2025-06-12T01:14:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=453014"},"modified":"2025-06-12T03:15:26","modified_gmt":"2025-06-12T03:15:26","slug":"frustrating-marnus-innings-puts-konstas-in-recall-frame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=453014","title":{"rendered":"'Frustrating' Marnus innings puts Konstas in recall frame"},"content":{"rendered":"

English cricket great Kevin Pietersen<\/a> has questioned the "mindset" of battling Aussie player Marnus Labuschagne<\/a> following a pedestrian debut as Test opener.<\/p>\n

Labuschagne was called on to partner Usman Khawaja<\/a> at the top of Australia's order for the World Test Championship final against South Africa at Lord's.<\/p>\n

He beat young tyro Sam Konstas to the job<\/a> – a selection that sparked debate.<\/p>\n

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\ufeffLabuschagne faced 56 balls before nicking off to Marco Jansen for 17, at a strike rate of 30.36.<\/p>\n

It took Aussie superstar Steve Smith just 28 deliveries to join Labuschagne on 17 – who had faced 49 at the time – and that was when Pietersen noted the difference between the pair.<\/p>\n

\ufeff"You see a lot of leaving from Marnus\ufeff… Steve Smith is not going to let you go, and that's why he is one of the great players," Pietersen said in commentary.<\/p>\n

\"Australia's<\/p>\n

"\ufeffJust on Marnus here, it is actually quite frustrating to watch.<\/p>\n

"He has the ability \ufeffto hit the ball really well if his body goes towards the ball, if his head goes toward the ball.<\/p>\n

"\ufeffI just think it's a mindset. He has the ability, he has the eyes, he has the technique, but I just think he needs to change the way he's thinking at the moment.<\/p>\n

"Batters are out there to score runs\ufeff, you're not out there to leave the ball all day.<\/p>\n

"\ufeffYou can bowl to that. If someone is just looking to leave (the ball) you can work him over. Comparing that to someone like Steve Smith – if you miss your line, miss your length, he smacks you for four."<\/p>\n

Smith had just flicked one off his pads to the boundary, before smacking a cover drive past another fielder for four.<\/p>\n

\"Labuschange<\/p>\n

The dynamic scoring ability of the gun No.4 was in contrast to Labuschagne, who left or defended almost every delivery and struggled to find runs.<\/p>\n

\ufeffSouth African legend Shaun Pollock explained why bowlers would relish having Labuschagne at the end of the pitch.<\/p>\n

"It's interesting they haven't put a leg slip in for him, which suggests they aren't going to attack the stumps, they are just going to hover outside off stump," \ufeffPollock said.<\/p>\n

"\ufeffIf he's just going to leave it, it kind of makes that job a lot easier for you."<\/p>\n

Fellow Proteas legend AB de Villiers could find some positives in the Labuschagne innings.<\/p>\n

\ufeff"Marnus was moving exceptionally well," de Villiers said after the right-hander was dismissed.\ufeff<\/p>\n

"He's been very decisive, and that's a huge wicket."<\/p>\n

Labuschagne's place in the Test team has been questioned for several months.<\/p>\n

He averaged above 70 early in his Test career, but his form has declined to the point he will be lucky to make the team for the summer's Ashes series.<\/p>\n

\"Marnus<\/p>\n

His career Test average remains a world class 46.45 but in his last 20 matches he averages a measly 28.00 – form that would get a lot of players axed.<\/p>\n

He hasn't scored a century in 30 Test innings, and has only one to his name since December 2022.\ufeff<\/p>\n

His form at domestic level has also been abysmal this year – in four matches for Queensland and Glamorgan he averages 18.50.\ufeff<\/p>\n

\ufeffAustralia's middle order is looking shored up with Cameron Green back healthy, Smith at No.4 and the rookie Beau Webster slotting in nicely behind the master blaster Travis Head.<\/p>\n

Usman Khawaja's career is winding down but a double century in Galle a few months ago means he won't be getting dropped any time soon.<\/p>\n

\ufeffKonstas is well and truly breathing down Labuschagne's neck as selectors look ahead to a three-Test series against the West Indies starting later this month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

English cricket great Kevin Pietersen has questioned the "mindset" of battling Aussie player Marnus Labuschagne following a pedestrian debut as Test opener. Labuschagne was called […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":453016,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453014"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=453014"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453014\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":453020,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453014\/revisions\/453020"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/453016"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=453014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=453014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=453014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}