David Warner says Marnus Labuschagne is “anywhere near where he should be” despite his former teammate’s encouraging 64 against India in the Adelaide Test win.
Warner claimed the star batter, who entered the match under pressure after just one score above 10 in his previous nine Test innings, got lucky from some poor Indian bowling and then got out “the same way he always does when he gets over 50” when he presented a catch to gully.
In an interview with NewsCorp, the new Fox Cricket commentator did not hold back despite playing many games for Australia alongside Labuschagne.
“I’m still not convinced with Marnus. I don’t think that was anywhere near what we know he’s capable of,” Warner told Code Sports.
“He might have got a couple out of the middle, got a couple of freebies, batted well that night to get through but they bowled poorly.
“So from that perspective, he had the best conditions to come out and bat in. But he got out the same way he always does get out when he gets over 50, hits it straight to gully.
“So there’s a lack of awareness there of what he’s got to be mindful of. I don’t think he’s anywhere near where he should be.”
Warner also thinks Steve Smith and Usman Khawaja need to start producing big scores after the veteran duo both went cheaply in Adelaide to continue their lean runs with the bat.
“Steve of late, I think a lot of teams have been bowling at his pads and down leg side. So I think from that perspective they’re trying to shut his scoring down quite a bit,” Warner said.
Marnus Labuschagne walks off the field after being dismissed by Mohammed Siraj at Perth Stadium. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
“You see he’s trying to tinker with fixing certain things with Bumrah. His feet weren’t moving across this time. We know what Steve’s like, one knock and then he’s there. But as we know, the best form of currency is runs so you’ve just got to try your best to churn them out,” Warner said.
“Uz, exactly the same. He’s had a great 12 months before. But then of late he hasn’t scored as many runs as he would have liked, but same thing, you’ve just got to go out there and still present the same attitude, the same at training, keep working hard.”
Test skipper Pat Cummins had no concerns about his team after their 10-wicket demolition of India and the Aussies head into Saturday’s Gabba Test with momentum on their side after copping a flogging in the series opener in Perth.
“This week we were back to our best,” Cummins said.
“That’s the team that I remember and how we want to play our cricket, so really satisfying.
“I think being one down, no doubt there’s a little bit more on it trying to level up the series.”
>Cricket News
%20(3).jpeg)
0 Comments