Marnus Labuschagne is a South African-born Australian cricketer who plays for Queensland in the domestic circuit of Australian cricket. He is an all-rounder who brings a different element to the Australian team. Known for his energetic fielding and handy leg spin bowling, Marnus offers a good balance to any team he represents.
Labuschagne played for Queensland at U-12, U-15, U-17, and U-19 level, and captained the side at the 2012–13 National Championships. He made his first-class debut in the 2014-15 season of the Sheffield Shield against South Australia. Marnus impressed on his debut scoring 83 runs in the first innings. In September 2017, Marnus was in the headlines for the wrong reasons one can say. During a match between Queensland and Australia XI, Labuschagne was penalized for 'fake fielding' as he dived and faked that he had collected the ball. He leapt to his feet and shaped to throw so that the batters won't run. For this action, his team was penalized five runs and thus he became the first victim of this new rule.
In March 2018, Cricket Australia named Labuschagne in their Sheffield Shield team of the year. His good form domestically resulted in a call-up in the Test squad to face Pakistan in UAE. He made his Test debut in October and got a duck in his first innings. It wasn't a promising beginning for him with the bat, however, he redeemed himself with his bowling by pickings 7 wickets in the series.
In April 2019, Labuschagne signed with Glamorgan, ahead of the 2019 season in England. He scored three centuries for Glamorgan in his first four first-class games for the county side. The pick of the innings was a daddy hundred against Sussex. He scored 1000 runs in the season and was the first one to reach that milestone in 2019.
Following his exquisite performances for Glamorgan in England, the selectors picked him in the Test squad for the 2019 Ashes. During the Lord's Test, Labuschagne etched his name in the record books by becoming the first 'concussion substitute' in Test history. He replaced Steve Smith who was ruled out of the remainder of the Test match after a short ball from Jofra Archer struck him on the neck. Marnus wasted no time in impressing everyone and stroked a brave fifty to help Australia draw the match. He will be looking to grab any opportunity that falls his way and cement his place in the regular XI.
AUSTRALIA
