After his problems in the first Ashes test, Marnus Labuschagne claimed he holds himself to a “higher standard” and is trying to recapture his best form in time for the second match at Lord’s.
In the first innings, Labuschagne was out for a golden duck, and in the second innings, he scored 13 runs, which caused him to lose his position as the best test player in the world to Joe Root of England.
After a tense struggle at Edgbaston that lasted for five days, Australia emerged victorious by a score of two wickets to one.
“They were very uncharacteristic dismissals to how I’ve usually played,” Labuschagne said. “I’ve always tried to play very aggressively.” “This is the reason why I was pretty frustrated with myself for getting out that way, and I asked myself the question, ‘Why did I play at those deliveries?'”
“I’ve thought about it, and I’ve put together my own summary of what it is. Now the question is whether or not there is anything I can do strategically or technically to prevent it from happening again in the future.
“It’s very unusual for me to play at those balls, so it’s not something I’m going to dwell on too much, but I hold myself to a much higher standard than those dismissals,” he said. “It’s not something I’m going to overthink, though.”
Ricky Ponting, who served as captain of Australia in the past, expressed confidence that Labuschagne will perform to his full potential.
Ponting said to The ICC Review, “I think he’s over complicating things a little bit,” in reference to the opponent.
“He has to trust and believe in what has made him the number two-ranked test batsman in the world for the last couple of years and go back to trusting that,” the commentator said. “He has to go back to trusting that.”
“I would actually tell him to go and watch some footage and watch some video of when he’s actually played his best, and to remember those things and then go and do that all over again,” I would say.
Wednesday marks the beginning of the second test, which will take place at Lord’s.