Former Australia captain Steve Smith thinks Marnus Labuschagne is capable enough to play across formats of the game for Australia.
“I certainly don’t see why not,” Smith was quoted as saying by www.cricket.com.au after the duo returned from their recently-concluded ODI series against India where they lost the series by 1-2. “We saw how he grew in Test cricket over the summer, the way he played and in his first few one-day games he looked right at home.”
“Now it is (about) taking that to the next level in T20. He is so quick between the wickets so there are lots of twos to be had. You need those sorts of players in your team in T20 cricket. He certainly has a bright future,” he added.
Both Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne will join their respective teams in the Big Bash League (BBL). They will play for Sydney Sixers and Brisbane Heat respectively. The next game is a must-win game for Heat who were bundled out for 36 against Melbourne Renegades, the worst collapse in BBL history ever.
“For me, it’s not about trying to fix it — the Heat are a quality team, “Marnus Labuschagne said. “Obviously we had a bit of a stumble the other night, but by no means is that going to dictate our season — I think we’re going to get back on and put up a good performance against the Sixers. I’m just going to play whatever role I’m given there, whether that’s in the top-order or the middle-order. I haven’t played much T20 cricket so it’ll be nice to get a bit more opportunity in that format.”
The 25-year-old batsman is relatively new in the shortest format, having played only seven matches — all for the Brisbane Heat — however, there is an expectation that he will carry forward his red-hot longer-format form in the T20 version of the game as well. In his maiden ODI tour in India, he scored 46 and 54 respectively in Australia’s 2-1 series defeat to India.
