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Marnus Labuschagne’s bizarre ‘brain fade’ fielding setup leaves umpire irked, commentators bamboozled
Marnus Labuschagne made a bizarre fielding change which left the umpire irked and commentators utterly confused.
Marnus Labuschagne, who is captaining Queensland in the opening round of the ongoing Sheffield Shield, was at his entertaining best against Western Australia in Perth. The match began with Queensland winning the toss and opting to field. Michael Nesser gave them a strong start, destroying Western Australia's top order, removing Cameron Bancroft (0), Jayden Goodwin (0) and Mitchell Marsh (13). Then spinner Mitchell Swepseon struck to remove Hilton Cartwright (38).
But Western Australia captain Sam Whiteman and wicketkeeper-batter Josh Inglis led the comeback, and built a 203-run partnership. During this partnership, Labuschagne tried to experiment in an attempt to break the stand.
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Marnus Labuschagne's ‘brain fade’ fielding setup
On Day 1 in the 66th over, Labuschagne stepped up to bowl his second over and ordered one of his teammates to stand directly behind the umpire, in what was a rather unconventional move. This surprised the on-field umpire, and then Labuschagne pulled his teammate by his trouser and shifted him to the left of the umpire.
On the striker's end was Inglis, who didn't let this distract him. Labuschagne then sent a bouncer, and Inglis ducked beneath it with ease. Reacting to the move, the commentators called it a 'brain fade' fielding position.
The partnership was later broken by Matt Renshaw in the 80th over, as Inglis departed for 122. Then Nesser removed Whiteman for 102.
This wasn't something new from Labuschagne, who is known for his weird on-field antics in international cricket. He was a key member of Australia's 2023 ODI World Cup-winning squad, getting a match-winning half-century in the final against India.
He has represented Queensland at various levels in junior cricket, before making his first-class debut in 2014. He was part of ICC Men's Test Team of the Year in 2019, 2021 and 2022. He also received the ICC Men's Emerging Cricketer of the Year in 2019.
