Ashes 2023: Marnus Labuschagne hasn’t looked himself in this series in England, says Damien Fleming

Former Australian fast bowler Damien Fleming believes Marnus Labuschagne hasn’t looked himself in the ongoing Ashes series against England. Labuschagne has got off to multiple starts in the series but he has failed to convert a single one of them into a substantial score.

The right-hander returned with scores of 21 and 33 in the third Test match at Leeds, Headingley which Australia lost by three wickets on Sunday. Labuschagne has scored 144 runs in three Test matches so far at an average of 24. In fact, he has failed to go past the 50-run mark even on one occasion against the hosts.

Labuschagne has been consistently troubled by England veteran fast bowler Stuart Broad and he hasn’t looked settled at the crease.

The right-hander was dismissed by Moeen Ali in the second innings of the third Test despite getting off to a good start.

“Ya, it did. There was not a lot in for the spinners. Moeen Ali was really just trying to dry up one end, so that the English quicks could attack from the other end. The Marnus one, he hasn’t looked himself in this series. It seems like he is just fighting himself,” Fleming said during an interaction on ‘SEN SA Breakfast’

Meanwhile, Fleming feels Labuschagne has been battling with himself as he has failed to get a big score. Furthermore, apart from scoring a century at Lord’s, Steve Smith has failed to deliver for Australia. Smith has so far scored 190 runs in three Test matches at an average of 31.67.

“Getting to 20 and 30 pretty easy but when he gets to that sort of score, it feels like I think he needs to just keep free-flowing and the Marnus we know in the last three or four years, he has been a batting machine really, averaging 55-60. It seems like he is battling himself.”

“Steve Smith’s hundred at Lord’s was as good a hundred as I have seen at the Test match level. But around that, he has been battling. To be honest, going into this series I would have thought Marnus and Smithy, as the right-handers in this Australian batting lineup, would have needed to dominate for us to win.”

There is no denying the fact that Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith are Australia’s two best batters but they need to be more consistent. The fourth Ashes Test will be played at Old Trafford from 19th July onwards.