Marnus Labuschagne

Marnus Labuschagne is a professional Australian cricketer born on 22 June 1994 in Klerksdorp, North West Province, South Africa. He is a batting all-rounder who bats right-handed and bowls right-arm legbreak.

He is the first concussion substitute used in the history of Test cricket. He achieved the feat when he replaced Steve Smith in the second Ashes Test in 2019 at Lord’s.

Background

A 10-year-old Marnus moved from his hometown in South Africa to Australia with his family. He joined the Australian Institute of Sport that paved his way into the Queensland team for age group cricket. He represented the side at U15, U17 and U19 levels more as a batsman than an all-rounder.

He soon got his contract for the senior side and made his First Class debut in the 2014/15 season of the Sheffield Shield, Australia’s premier domestic multi-day competition. He rose to the occasion right from his first innings as he scored a gritty 83 for the side.

He continued his good form in List A cricket as well and won the Player of the Tournament in the 2016/17 Matador BBQs One Day Cup. Apart from his performances with the bat and ball, he was seen getting in the headlines for a couple more instances.

In 2014, he got in as a substitute fielder for Australia against India in a Test match at the Gabba. He took a brilliant catch at short leg to dismiss Varun Aaron off Nathan Lyon and the brilliant piece of work was instantly trending all over social media. In 2017, he once again made the headlines for achieving an unwanted feat of becoming the first fielder to be penalized for the ‘fake fielding’ rule just a day after the rule was introduced.

He finally got his opportunity into the Australian Test side in a fresh-looking team when a vacancy was created by the banned trio of Bancroft, Warner and Smith due to the Sandpaper Gate in South Africa.

Debut

Labuschagne made his Test debut against Pakistan on 7 October 2018 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. The home side posted a huge total of 482 in the first innings. The debutant picked up a wicket and was involved in a run-out. He then got a duck in their first innings as Australia could manage only 202. Pakistan batted again and set a target of 462. Once again the debutant took a wicket and a catch. The Aussies saved the Test as they ended the day on 362/8 as Labuschagne contributed 13.

Rise to Glory

He made a name for himself after a crucial contribution right after creating a world record. He became the first concussion substitute in the history of Test cricket when he replaced the in-form Steve Smith in the second Ashes Test of the 2019 series at Lord’s. Marnus batted in the second innings and got a crucial 59 off 100 balls on the last day before being getting out rather unfortunately.

Club career

Marnus continues to play for Queensland in the premier domestic competitions like the Sheffield Shield and Matador BBQs One day Cup from the 2014/15 season.

He represents the Brisbane Heat in the Big Bash League since the 2016/17 edition. He has scored 42 runs and picked up 1 wicket in 7 matches for them.

He played an important role for the Glamorgan side in county cricket in the 2019 season. In just 10 matches, he made 1114 runs including 5 centuries and 5 half-centuries at an average of 65.53 with a highest score of 182. He scored twin centuries against Worcestershire. He also contributed well with the ball picking up 19 wickets.