‘Oh! That’s a nice ball there’ – Marnus Labuschagne caught on stump mic praising Ollie Robinson

Marnus Labuschagne enjoyed his day in the middle in the second Ashes Test. His innings of 95 runs off 275 deliveries, along with David Warner’s 95 runs, helped Australia reach a total of 221 runs for the loss of two wickets at the end of the day. He might score a century tomorrow when he comes out to bat again.

Labuschagne blocked the last ball of the 70th over bowled by Ollie Robinson. He was quick enough to acknowledge the bowler and tell him, “Ohhh! That’s a nice ball there.” In reply, Robinson smiled before walking back. This incident occurred just before the drinks break on day 1. Robinson bowled 16 overs and gave away 34 runs without picking a wicket.

England and Sri Lanka are the two teams against whom Labuschagne is yet to score a century in Test cricket. In five Test matches, he has made 427 runs against England at an average of 53.38. He might be able to improve his record against the arch-rival tomorrow.

Along with Labuschagne, Warner also tested the patience of the English bowling attack. They both added 172 runs for the second wicket before Warner departed for a score of 95 runs. Steven Smith then joined Labuschagne in the middle. They both have added 45 runs for the third wicket at the end of the first day of the play.

Labuschagne dropped twice by Jos Buttler

Ben Stokes bowled the 35th over of the match. Labuschagne edged the third delivery of the over towards Jos Buttler, standing behind the wicket. A couple of balls ago, Buttler picked one of the best catches to dismiss Marcus Harris. But, Buttler couldn’t hold on to the ball, and England missed the golden opportunity to dismiss Labuschagne. At that time, Labuschagne made 21 runs.

The opportunity came again in the 85th over bowled by James Anderson. On the fourth ball of the over, Labuschagne again edged it towards Buttler. However, Buttler reached for the ball a little late and repeated the same story. By this time, Labuschagne was already looking very dangerous and had scored 95 runs.