Marnus Labuschagne working on his death batting in ODIs and legspin
Marnus Labuschagne hasn't been idling away his time since the Covid-19 enforced hiatus in cricket began, instead focusing on how he can improve on what was a spectacular 2019-2020 season.
From the moment he was parachuted into the second Ashes Test at Lord's as Steven Smith's concussion substitute, Labuschagne barely put a foot wrong, piling up 1249 Test runs at 83.26. That included a home summer against Pakistan and New Zealand which brought four centuries, the last of which was a career-best 215 at the SCG.
Shortly before sport came to a grinding halt, Labuschagne earned his first call-up to the ODI side and, unsurprisingly, tasted early success with an emotional maiden century against South Africa in front of extended family in Potchefstroom. His last innings before lockdown was another half-century against New Zealand in Sydney.
It will probably be in the ODI format where he resumes action unless he earns a first call-up to the T20I side for the initial part of the England series. While he has been working on all areas of his game, it is elements of one-day cricket where he is eyeing strides, notably his legspin and being able to hit strongly late in an innings.
"It doesn't matter what the format is; you want to get better," he told reporters in Brisbane. "There are some areas in one-day cricket where I'm continuing to develop: my bowling and making sure I get a bit more consistent, so I become a better option for the skipper in the middle overs and, with my batting at the death - I want to keep working on that. So it's been nice to have five months to be able to work on those skills, where if I'd been playing cricket you might not have had the opportunity. It's all about using the time wisely. Hopefully that's the way it comes across."
Labuschagne, who under normal circumstances would have been in county cricket for Glamorgan during the English season, is the only Queensland player in the 21-man squad for the England tour. He has been able to take advantage of more favourable circumstances in the state to prepare, both from the situation of fewer Covid-19 restrictions and the warm winter climate that allows for outdoor training and practice which included an inter-squad game to the rules of the Hundred.
"There have been so many areas that I've found I can keep working on in the nets or at home, finding cricket in different ways," he said. "The lack of games is definitely something I've missed but there's been plenty of other areas and we've been lucky here that we've been able to train outdoors on turf.
"That's what this pre-season has been about, making sure I prepare, improving those areas I needed to to take my game to the next level. I had a really good summer but you want to be better than that, I want to go one better, so making sure you are using this time wisely."