"I wouldn’t be surprised if they start churning out hundreds" - Pat Cummins confident of Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne returning to their best
Australian captain Pat Cummins has thrown his weight behind Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne to rediscover their best form as a lean 2023 by their standards continued in the Boxing Day Test against Pakistan. The 30-year-old believes they are putting quite a significant number of hours in the nets and runs can start flowing again.
Smith and Labuschagne are arguably the backbone of Australia's batting line-up, but have lacked the consistency they are famous for in 2023. While Smith averages 41.86 in 13 Tests this year, Labuschagne's numbers amount to 37.14 in 2023. However, Labuschagne top-scored with 63 in the first innings of the Boxing Day Test to propel Australia to 318.
Speaking after day 2 of the Boxing Day Test, Cummins admitted that wickets haven't been the best to bat on in the last few years, but backs the decorated pair to adapt and dominate again. As quoted by Perth Now, he stated:
"I mean, when they were averaging 60 each year, you thought, ‘Oh, well that’s going to be an outlier’, and four or five years later, we’re all kind of in awe that they’ve kept up that standard. The batters, it wasn’t long ago we had one, two, three-ranked in the world and they were right up there. So I wouldn’t be surprised if they start averaging 60 or 70, but we’ve toured India this year, some of the wickets in Australia haven’t been like they were five or six years ago either. You see the hours they put in in the nets, they’re still hitting it as well as they ever have, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they start churning out hundreds all the time."
Smith has had scores of 31, 45, and 26 in the series against Pakistan, getting off to promising starts, but failing to convert it into big hundreds.
"I think the wicket is going to get better and better" - Pat Cummins
Reflecting on the state of the match, Cummins believes Labuschagne's innings of 63 was undeniably precious, but highlighted the need to start well on the 3rd morning with the ball. He added:
"It was really tough, even the outfield is not very quick here, so 300 is probably worth at least 400. (Labuschagne’s) 60 or 70 was probably worth 100-odd in the context of the game. I’m happy with our batting performance, and to have them six (wickets) down overnight, still a fair way behind, puts us in a good position I think. I think the wicket is going to get better and better … we’ve got to start well."
After managing 318 in their first innings, Australia reduced the tourists to 194-6, with Mohammad Rizwan and Aamer Jamal at the crease.