'Marn's similar to me in a way': Steve Smith defends struggling Labuschagne as selection doubt lingers
Steve Smith reflected on his glorious rebirth as a prolific Test batter as he defended Marnus Labuschagne in the Australian first drop's wobbly bid to retain his position for the World Test Championship final.
Smith again underlined his emphatic return to dominance by taking out player of the series against Sri Lanka on Sunday, as Australia celebrated its first Test series triumph in Sri Lanka since 2011.
When Smith marched out to bat at the Gabba against India in December, the right-hander had not made a Test century in 24 innings.
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But he has since peeled off four Test centuries in eight innings, or four in five matches: knocks of 101 in Brisbane, 104 in Melbourne, 141 in Galle and 131 at the same venue.
His first run of the Warne-Muralitharan Trophy took him to Test cricket's iconic 10,000-run mark.
"Even when I wasn't getting the runs I wanted, I was still saying to all you guys [reporters] that I was actually batting quite nicely," Smith said following the second Test against Sri Lanka.
Marnus Labuschagne bats in Galle. Getty
"Things can turn around quickly [with] a bit of luck. First innings in the first Test here I got dropped on 1 and then went on to make it count; another day I get caught and we're not having the same conversation.
"As soon as you get that one good score, you get a bit of a read on some bowlers that you're facing and you just feel a bit more comfortable. That for me was the Gabba, I suppose. To get a big one there I started to feel comfortable, [by] facing a lot of balls and getting a bit of rhythm."
Smith also credited his resurgence to "having faith" in his practice and understanding "the game ebbs and flows".
Labuschagne scored a small personal win as Australia chased 75 runs for victory in Galle on Sunday, tallying 26 not out and hitting the winning runs.
He had failed in Australia's first dig, losing his wicket for 4 when off-spinner Prabath Jayasuriya got the ball to skid off the deck and rap his back pad, trapping him lbw as he tried to play off his back foot. The umpire didn't raise his finger, but Sri Lanka reviewed and ball-tracking showed the delivery would have rattled the leg stump.
Labuschagne climbed to No.1 in the men's Test batting rankings in December 2022, having churned out 3041 runs at an average of 60.82, including 10 tons.
But since the start of Australia's 2022-23 series against South Africa, the Queenslander has only mustered 1355 Test runs at 30.79, and just one century.
He is currently ranked 14th in the Test batting rankings.
Regardless, Smith threw his support behind Labuschagne following Australia's nine-wicket win in Galle.
"Marn's similar to me in a way," Smith said.
"Throughout the summer I think he's actually batting quite nicely, and there's a difference between being out of form and out of runs, and I've seen Marnus do it, we know he can do it.
"I don't think he's out of form, personally. I've watched him train and watched him play and a lot of the things he's done so well are there. Things can turn around pretty quickly. He'd love to score more runs and we'd love him to score more runs, but in my opinion it's just around the corner."
The Australians will next play a Test when they aim to successfully defend their World Test Championship mace against South Africa at Lord's in June.
