Nobody, least of all Dean Elgar, ought to have been stunned when Marnus Labuschagne nailed the non-striker’s stumps within the minutes earlier than lunch on Boxing Day with the South African captain in need of his floor.
Even fewer ought to have been shocked by his equally spectacular effort at cowl on the opposite aspect of lunch, leaping like a salmon to catch Khaya Zondo at full stretch.
Then there’s the numerous instances at present he saved runs with a diving cease off an Elgar or Sarel Erwee cowl drive: they don’t make the highlights reels, however everybody within the Australian set-up will know and bear in mind all of them.
His batting feats have dominated dialogue all through his Take a look at profession, however underneath the radar has been Labuschagne’s fielding. Proper now, few if any in world cricket are higher.
In actual fact, I’ll go additional: he’s one of the best fielder to play for Australia since prime Ricky Ponting prowled anyplace between cowl and backward level all through the Nineteen Nineties and 2000s.
He has a rocket arm, an excellent set of catching palms, catlike reflexes and sneakily elite athleticism – and he makes magic occur repeatedly. To have two of those attributes often makes for a wonderful fielder, however to have the entire bundle is solely outstanding.
Typically, particularly at brief leg, he makes issues look deceptively simple – maybe that’s why his efforts within the discipline have gone so unnoticed all through the 4 years since his Take a look at debut and amid his rise to the highest of the ICC’s official batting rankings.
Labuschagne’s direct hit to run Elgar out was his fifth direct hit in worldwide cricket in 2022 alone. To begin the 12 months, he swooped in from cowl to splatter Rory Burns’ stumps within the Ashes.
Then in Lahore a number of months later, he hustled in from mid-wicket, picked up one-handed, turned and threw down Babar Azam with possibly one and a half stumps to purpose at. Bullseye once more.
Then just some days later in Karachi, a mirror picture of the Burns dismissal: Pakistan’s Hasan Ali made to pay full value for a deadly hesitation mid-pitch by the Queenslander.
Probably the most spectacular of the lot might need been this one from level in an ODI in opposition to Sri Lanka mid-year: with one stump to purpose at, Marnus was by no means going to overlook.
By the point Boxing Day rolled round, Elgar ought to have recognized this isn’t a person to tackle within the discipline. Apparently not.
5 run outs in a single 12 months is totally ridiculous. By comparability, Ponting, who despatched extra stumps flying than some other fielder in recorded historical past, ran 80 gamers out in 560 worldwide matches. One in seven: Labuschagne this 12 months, with 26 video games underneath his belt together with Boxing Day, goes at one in 5.
It’s not like this has simply been an uncommonly good 12 months from him: take a look at this long-range direct hit (whereas carrying a helmet!) within the New 12 months’s Take a look at in opposition to India in January 2021.
Or him doing it twice in the identical match in a Marsh Cup recreation in opposition to Tasmania in November final 12 months…
… and only for good measure, right here’s one other one I discovered from this 12 months, whereas enjoying for Glamorgan in county cricket. By no means run on a misfield, particularly when Marnus is about.
Having a laser for an arm is one factor, but it surely’s solely a part of the bundle with Labuschagne: through the years, he has taken numerous excellent catches each time he fields.
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Ask any cricketer and so they’ll let you know the worst place to discipline is underneath the lid at brief leg, particularly to the spinners. Labuschagne not solely loves the problem, however he’s additionally distinctive: his first style of the limelight was, in spite of everything, a terrific reflex catch as a sub fielder in opposition to India in late 2014.
The brief leg catch he took in opposition to Pakistan in his first Take a look at collection as an precise participant, off the tempo of Mitchell Starc, was one way or the other even higher.
Sure, he didn’t take it cleanly, but it surely takes a) unbelievable reflexes to get your palms anyplace close to a ball travelling that velocity, and b) nice presence of thoughts to maintain cool when a ball has simply been pinged into your particular person.
His catch on Boxing Day was magnificent as effectively. It’s a mark of the good fielders that they make the troublesome look routine: this was a tremendously powerful take dealt with, within the phrases of Invoice Lawry, ‘clear as a whistle’.
As I recall, he had a poor match the place he dropped numerous catches in shut in opposition to Pakistan on the Adelaide Oval in 2019. Other than that, it’s exhausting to recollect him placing something to grass in any respect.
Australia has had no scarcity of nice fielders in current instances: since prime Punter, Steve Smith, pre-shoulder harm David Warner and Andrew Symonds are particular contenders for Marnus’ title.
Smith has taken numerous unbelievable one-handed screamers through the years, and little doubt has equally pretty much as good palms as Labuschagne. Nonetheless, he doesn’t have near the identical physique of labor with regards to run outs, and placing ‘Steve Smith dropped catch’ into Google yields loads extra outcomes than it does for Marnus.
In actual fact, it intently I’d argue Smith’s palms get him out of bother much more than we ever realised: he typically appears to choose the ball up barely late (particularly in opposition to the pink ball), his palms can typically get into dodgy positions within the slips, however in the long run his good hand-eye coordination and sticky mitts save the day most of the time.
The 2 catches he shelled in opposition to Pakistan in Brisbane in 2016 in a day-night Take a look at are a terrific instance.
Warner has been distinctive in each aspects – able to run outs like this:
… and catches like this, each in that wonderful summer time in opposition to England in 2013/14.
Nonetheless, my argument in opposition to Warner is that he lacks the physique of labor that Labuschagne does. Each are equally spectacular, and have all fielding aspects lined – at the very least, Warner did till his wrecked shoulder compelled him completely into the slips cordon, the place he stays a secure pair of palms – however to my data, Dave hasn’t hit the stumps with fairly the regularity of Marnus. He’s not often ever been underneath the lid, both.
The late, nice Symonds is the obvious rival for Labuschagne – he too was unbelievable within the discipline in each facet, to the purpose the place he was a veritable quadruple risk with bat, medium-pace and canny off-spin as effectively.
My solely caveat in opposition to Symonds on this regard is that a number of his greatest work got here alongside prime Ponting, so he can’t actually be stated to have come after him, can he? And between the pair, I’d in all probability have to offer the sting to the captain, whose solely rival for greatest fielder of all time is South Africa’s Jonty Rhodes. Nonetheless, no disgrace being overwhelmed by one of the best, although.
Nonetheless, since prime Ricky Ponting, Marnus Labuschagne is pretty much as good – or certainly, even higher – as any Australian fielder. It’s time all of us collectively realised simply how distinctive he’s.
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