Rather than just breaking back into the Australian test team, Marnus Labuschagne is set to enter the Ashes as the form batter of either side after scoring his fifth century of the Australian season on Monday.
His return is set to be confirmed in coming days when Australian selectors name their Ashes squad, after the 31-year-old was dropped for the tour of the West Indies in July.
Labuschagne hit 101 off 111 deliveries for Queensland in their 50-over victory over NSW on Monday at Sydney’s Cricket Central. It is his third century in four innings in that competition, adding to another two in four innings in the Sheffield Shield.
Combined, he has scored nearly 700 runs in his eight visits to the crease this season, and appears to have put several years of struggle behind him. Labuschange said he feels he needed to be dropped for him to rediscover his form.
“While you’re still playing and you’re in, you’re getting scrutinised, and it’s hard to get clarity on where you want your game to be and how you want to do that,” he told Fox Sports.
“As a player, and the way I always play is ‘OK, I’ll just keep training. I’ll keep training’ and it was just not the right plan and the right play.
“So for me, it was something that really needed to happen for me to, like I said, find my best, and I said it from the start before the first game, ‘if I’m playing at my best, I don’t need to worry about anything else’.”
When asked if he was in the form of his life, Labuschagne said: “The only one I can think of is probably 2019 at Glamorgan as a period of time. But probably not across both formats.
“With both formats I feel like my batting is in a really nice place, just trusting my skills and trusting myself out there ... It’s all coming together.”
On Monday, Labuschagne got the better of another Ashes hopeful, Sam Konstas, who was caught behind for 47. But the Queenslander praised his former Australian teammate after the match.
“I feel when he really learns his game – learns when to push, when to pull, when defend, when to use all these shots – he’s going to be a very, very good player for Australia,” Labuschagne said.
Australia’s Ashes squad is expected to be announced this week ahead of the first Test in Perth beginning on 21 November.
