'Well played Marnus, clever' - Marnus Labuschagne gets caught on stump mic while praising himself for ducking a bouncer

Marnus Labuschagne is an essential character in Australia’s lineup currently. During the last Ashes, the world discovered who he is and what he brings to the table. Labuschagne is again back against England in the Ashes and has already made a half-century in the first Test.

On day one of the second Ashes Test, Labuschagne came out to bat after Stuart Broad took the wicket of Travis Head in the 8th over. Jos Buttler dropped an easy catch of Labuschagne off the bowling of Ben Stokes. After which, the all-rounder started bowling bouncers to Labuschagne. While facing one of them, he ducked and shouted at the top of his voice, “well played, Marnus, clever.” He was praising himself for facing such challenging deliveries.

Labuschagne had made 25 runs off 111 balls at the time of drinks break (at the time of writing this article), while David Warner had scored 42 runs off 105 deliveries. They both look pretty set in the middle and might take Australia to a huge total. During the first Test, Labuschagne made 74 runs off 117 balls and added 156 runs for the second wicket along with Warner.

England’s pacers have not found much movement on the pitch of Adelaide Oval. It looks like the pitch is curated to suit the batting department, and hence, one might witness another high-scoring thriller in this series.

Jhye Richardson makes a comeback for Australia

Earlier, Australia won the toss and elected to bat. Australia had to make two forced changes in the playing 11. Jhye Richardson made a comeback to Australia’s Test squad after a gap of almost two years. He has replaced Josh Hazlewood, who sustained an injury while playing the first Test.

Also, Australia’s new captain, Pat Cummins, came in close contact with a COVID-19 positive person on 15th December. Due to this, he has been advised to stay in isolation for the next seven days. Hence, he also missed this Test. Michael Neser, who had been waiting to make his debut for Australia, finally has received his chance.

On the other hand, England has included both James Anderson and Broad in the playing 11. England has dropped Jack Leach from the squad, he was pretty expensive in the first Test. Also, England has come into this game with an all-pace attack despite the pitch’s history of providing plenty of support to spinners.