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QueenslandBatter
Marnus Labuschagne
- Age
- 32y 143d
- Bats
- Right-hand
- Bowls
- Right-arm leg break
- From
- Klerksdorp
- Age
- 32y 143d
- Bats
- Right-hand
- Bowls
- Right-arm leg break
- From
- Klerksdorp
Marnus Labuschagne was born in Klerksdorp, South Africa, and relocated to Australia at the age of 10 in 2004, when his father took up work in mining. Afrikaans was his first language, and he picked up English once he began school in Brisbane. Cricket became a focus during his schooling. He spent time at the Australian Institute of Sport and represented Queensland at under-15, under-17 and under-19 level. He is a close friend of Steve Smith, whom he regards as a role model.
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His first-class debut came for Queensland in the 2014-15 Sheffield Shield at Adelaide Oval, aged 20. He made 83 in the first innings, sharing a 99-run fourth-wicket partnership with Nick Stevens, although he was out for a duck in the second innings and Queensland lost. He scored two Shield centuries in 2015-16. In the 2016-17 one-day competition he made 271 runs at an average of 45 with a strike rate of 90.63 and was named Player of the Tournament. That led to a Brisbane Heat contract in November 2016, though he managed only 21 runs across three games. Before his own Test career began, he took a close catch as a substitute fielder at the Gabba against India in 2014, removing Varun Aaron off Nathan Lyon. In September 2017 he became the first player penalised for fake fielding, conceding five runs.
He earned a Test call-up for a 2-Test series against Pakistan in the UAE, where his leg-spin made more of an impression than his batting. He made 38 at Sydney against India and posted his maiden Test fifty against Sri Lanka at Brisbane. A 2019 county stint with Glamorgan produced 1114 runs in 18 innings, including five hundreds and five fifties.
During the 2019 Ashes he became the first concussion substitute, replacing Steve Smith on day five of the second Test and scoring 59. In the next match he top-scored with 72 and 80. Back home, his maiden Test hundred was 185 against Pakistan at the Gabba, followed by centuries in the next two Tests and later a double-hundred at the SCG against New Zealand. That year he climbed 106 places to number four in the ICC Test batting rankings.
He debuted in ODIs in 2020, making his first hundred against South Africa in Potchefstroom, but found white-ball cricket less consistent. Left out of the initial 2023 World Cup squad, he came in as a concussion replacement for Cameron Green in September 2023, making an unbeaten 80 and then 124 against South Africa, and 138 runs in a three-match series in India secured his place. After a quiet tournament he made an unbeaten fifty as Australia beat India in the final. Since then his form has dipped, and he has not made a Test century since December 2022.
