Full Name

Marnus Labuschagne

Born

June 22, 1994, Klerksdorp, North West Province, South Africa

Age

29y 271d

Batting Style

Right hand Bat

Bowling Style

Legbreak

Playing Role

Batter

Marnus Labuschagne's ascent to the higher echelons of Test batting was an extraordinary tale of making the most of an unexpected opportunity. During the Lord's Ashes Test against England in August 2019, Steven Smith was felled by Jofra Archer's bouncer and Labuschagne would become his concussion substitute - the first time in Test history the protocol had been used. By the end of the year he had eclipsed Smith as the leading Test run-scorer in the world, and locked in the No. 3 spot, in the midst of a prolific home summer that brought him four centuries in five matches against Pakistan and New Zealand including a double century at the SCG.

It was a far cry from a year previously when he had been the shock choice to bat No. 3 against India in Sydney, in just his third Test and with a first-class average in the low 30s, having been a surprise call-up to the 2018 tour of UAE to face Pakistan as Australia began to rebuild following the ball-tampering crisis.

Labuschagne was born in Klerksdorp, in South Africa's North West province, to South African parents. His family emigrated to Australia in 2004 when he was 10. He grew up speaking Afrikaans, and only became fluent in English after moving to Australia. Before his international call-up he had been best known for his work as a substitute short leg fielder for Australia taking a superb catch off Nathan Lyon in the 2014 Brisbane Test against India. He made 83 on his Sheffield Shield debut for Queensland in 2014 and was the second leading run-scorer in the 2017-18 Sheffield Shield season scoring 795 runs at 39.75 with two centuries.

In his first two Test against Pakistan it was his useful legspin - something he would continue to develop - that stood out as much as his batting as he took eight wickets while showing a glimmer of his potential with the bat in Abu Dhabi. Following the recall against India, he made a composed 81 in the pink-ball Test against Sri Lanka in Brisbane but did not receive a Cricket Australia contract despite being an incumbent in the Test team.

What came next was a key part of his story as he signed for Glamorgan for the first part of the 2019 county season where he would churn out 1114 runs in 10 matches, honing his technique against the moving Duke ball and then winning the race for a spot in the Ashes squad.
ESPNcricinfo staff

Marnus Labuschagne Career Stats

Batting & Fielding

FormatMatInnsNORunsHSAveBFSR100s50s4s6sCtSt
Tests50907411421549.56780952.68112046312360
ODIs52473165612437.63199483.042111367270
T20Is110222.00450.00000010
FC148261221087921545.512030453.5830531292421270
List A97925314013536.09372784.2532426920480
T20s42402105393*27.71833126.41059421210

Bowling

FormatMatInnsBallsRunsWktsBBIBBMAveEconSR4w5w10w
Tests50441223757133/455/11958.233.7194.0000
ODIs521020323022/192/19115.006.79101.5000
T20Is1------------
FC14815060323864804/815/7748.303.8475.4100
List A9730784850113/463/4677.276.5071.2000
T20s4228372566243/133/1323.589.1215.5000
Marnus Labuschagne

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Photos of Marnus Labuschagne

Ben Sears claimed a return catch to remove Marnus Labuschagne
Marnus Labuschagne briefly unfurled his medium pace
Daniel Vettori and Marnus Labuschagne share a laugh
Mitchell Starc and Marnus Labuschagne put on 32 for the eighth wicket
Marnus Labuschagne brought up his first fifty of the tour
Marnus Labuschagne was compact in the morning