Australia coach provides update on injury scare to Marnus Labuschagne ahead of Lord's Ashes 2023 Test
Australian star batter Marnus Labuschagne was struck on his arm during practice on Saturday ahead of the second Ashes 2023 Test at Lord's. According to reports from CODE Sports, Labuschagne was on his knees in pain after being struck in an optional practice session.
However, Australian assistant coach Michael Di Venuto claimed that Labuschagne continued batting even after getting hit on the arm and feels there is no major injury scare for the star batter.
Here's what Di Venuto was quoted as saying by Fox Cricket about Marnus Labuschagne:
“He kept on batting so he must‘ve been OK. Otherwise, he would have walked out. He‘s got a finger that has copped a couple of knocks. I think he just got another one. He said it felt better because the blood started to flow through or something. So it makes sense if that’s what you want."
Di Venuto on Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith's preparation for Lord's Test
The Australian assistant coach was pretty confident about Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith getting back among the runs in the remainder of the Ashes. He spoke about how both Smith and Labuschagne wanted to face a few deliveries in the nets and that's why they were in attendance along with some of the other fringe players in the squad.
On this, Di Venuto stated:
“They (Labuschagne and Smith) got wind of a net session that we had organised for the guys that hadn‘t been playing. They have had a few days off shadow-batting in their rooms. They got itchy feet. So we welcomed them down here to hit cricket balls as they both love doing.”
With the kind of form that Smith and Labuschagne have been in over the past few months, it seems like both failing in the same game is a rare occurrence that happened in Edgbaston.