3 days Ago By Justin Chadwick
India beware: Marnus Labuschagne is keen to become Australia's surprise bouncer weapon with the ball this summer. Labuschagne's batting at No.3 is set to play a key role in the hosts' hopes of winning the Border-Gavaskar trophy for the first time in a decade.
But with Cameron Green (back) to miss the series and some doubts about how many overs allrounder Mitch Marsh can get through, the ball may be thrown to Labuschagne on a semi-regular basis during the five-Test series. Labuschagne has unleashed plenty of jokes about the high quality of his bouncers in the lead-up to the series..
But behind the light-hearted banter lies a steely determination from the 30-year-old to be ready if needed. Across two Shield games this summer, Labuschagne bowled 33.2 overs, picking up three wickets along the way.
That included a haul of 2-5 from 6.2 overs against WA at the WACA, in which his bouncers worked to great effect. He then bowled 27 overs across two innings in Queensland's 129-run Shield loss to South Australia last month.
Labuschagne was even seen bowling bouncers at Test captain Pat Cummins in Perth this week in the lead up to the first Test against India, starting Friday. "Look, you've got to go at the top, don't you?" Labuschagne said with a smile when asked about bowling bouncers at his skipper. "I bowled one bouncer, and I think Mitchell Starc said, 'You've got short memories'.
"And I said, 'Well, I'm going to get them (bouncers directed at me) anyway, so I might as well dish them out'. But yeah, like I said, practice like you play." As for the prospect of being given the green light to bowl bouncers at India on what's expected to be a juicy Optus Stadium deck? "I would love nothing more than to be that guy," said Labuschagne, who can bowl both medium pacers and spin.
"But we've got to convince the Australian captain of that, so we'll see. But there's nothing more enjoyable than bowling bouncers, I love it." Labuschagne hasn't needed to alter his gym routine to prepare for his extra bowling loads, but Cricket Australia staff have been left holding their breath at times.
"There was a bit of worry (from CA staff) when I bowled 28 overs of pace in a Shield game and my workloads were zero before then," Labuschagne said. "Some would say that's a big spike. But my body's pretty durable, touch wood.
"And it's something that I've done from a young age - I've always bowled pace.".
