Former Australia cricketer Damien Fleming believes that Marnus Labuschagne is battling inner demons right now, which is why the right-handed batsman hasn’t had much of an effect in the Ashes 2023 thus far.
The 29-year-old has struck 144 runs in his first three Test matches, which is notable and indicates that he has fallen short of expectations. As a result of his outstanding performance in County Championship Division Two, Labuschagne was anticipated to perform exceptionally well in the UK, but that hasn’t been the case.
In both of his innings during the third Test at Headingley, Labuschagne was able to get off to a strong start but was unable to turn it into a sizable total. He has had a serious problem with that all summer. Fleming believes that Marnus’ and Steve Smith’s fast dismissals in the second innings of the third Test ultimately contributed greatly to Australia’s loss, and he hopes that the 29-year-old finds his form sooner rather than later to assist Australia in clinching the series in Manchester.
“Yeah, that’s right—the early removal of Labuschagne and Smith caused issues for Australia. For the spinners, there wasn’t much in. The English quicks could then assault from the other end, thanks to Moeen Ali’s simple attempt to dry out one end. In this series, he hasn’t glanced at the Marnus person. He appears to be struggling solely with himself.
“Getting to 20 and 30 is pretty simple but when he gets to that sort of score, it feels like I think he needs to just keep free-flowing and the Marnus we know in the previous three or four years has really been a batting machine, averaging 55-60. In an interview with SEN SA Breakfast, Fleming stated, “It appears as though he is fighting himself.
Damien Fleming praises Mitch Marsh, Mitch Head, and Khawaja.
Damien Fleming continued by stating that, given England’s strong history against Australian left-handers, he believes Smith and Marnus will be a force to be reckoned with during the Ashes. However, the veteran cricketer was taken aback by Usman Khawaja, Travis Head, and Mitchell Marsh’s success and afterwards praised them for having a significant influence.
For our left-handers, we are well familiar with the English bowl. As disappointing as Marnus and Smith have been, Usman and Travis Head have been terrific, and Mitchell Marsh’s replacement for Cameron Green was an inspired hundred, according to Fleming.
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