Marnus Labuschagne ( or ; born 22 June 1994) is an Australian international

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er who captains

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

and plays for

Glamorgan Glamorgan (), or sometimes Glamorganshire ( or ), was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It is located in the South Wales, south of Wales. Originally an ea ...

in county cricket and for Brisbane Heat in the Big Bash League. Labuschagne was once ranked as high as no.1 in the Test batting rankings. He was a member of the Australian team that won the 2023 WTC and the 2023 ODI World Cup. He represented Queensland at various levels in junior cricket, before making his

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

debut in 2014. In August 2019, Labuschagne was the first cricketer to become a concussion substitute in a Test match, replacing Steve Smith. Labuschagne was the leading run-scorer in Test matches in 2019. He rose to fourth place in the ICC Player Rankings during the year, a rise of 106 places.

Australian Associated Press Australian Associated Press Ltd (AAP) is an Australian news agency. It was founded in 1935 by Keith Murdoch. AAP employs around 90 journalists who work in bureaus in all states and territories of Australia except the Northern Territory. It al ...

(30 December 2019
Marnus Labuschagne climbs 106 places in ICC Test batting rankings
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''. Retrieved 5 January 2020. In January 2020, Labuschagne was named as the ICC Men's Emerging Cricketer of the Year by the

International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the global Sports governing body, governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from Australia, England, and South Africa. In 1965, the body wa ...

(ICC), in February as Australia's Test player of the year, and in April as one of the five Cricketers of the Year by ''

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "Bible of cricket" (or variations thereof) has been applied to ''Wi ...

''.

Early life

Labuschagne was born in Klerksdorp, in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

's North West province, to South African parents. His family emigrated to Australia in 2004 when he was 10, after his father gained work in the mining industry, and Labuschagne attended school at Brisbane State High School. He grew up speaking

Afrikaans Afrikaans is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento, Chubut, Sarmiento that speaks the Pat ...

, and only became fluent in English after moving to Australia.Craddock, Robert (27 October 2014
Former South African Marnus Labuschagne well-schooled for Sheffield Shield debut
''

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''. Retrieved 1 November 2014. In 2021, he revealed that in November 2010, he worked at

The Gabba The Brisbane Cricket Ground, commonly known as the Gabba, is a major sports stadium in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. The nickname Gabba derives from the suburb of Woolloongabba, in which it is located. Over the years, the Gab ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, as a Hot Spot

infrared camera Infrared thermography (IRT), thermal video or thermal imaging, is a process where a thermal camera captures and creates an image of an object by using infrared radiation emitted from the object in a process, which are examples of infrared im ...

operator for Channel 9, and witnessed Peter Siddle's

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

during the

2010–11 Ashes series The 2010–11 Ashes series (known as the Vodafone Ashes Series for sponsorship reasons) was the 66th series of Test cricket matches played to contest The Ashes. The series was played in Australia as part of the England cricket team's tour of the ...

, on Siddle's 26th birthday.

Domestic career

A right-handed batsman, Labuschagne played for

at under-12, under-15, under-17, and under-19 level, and captained the side at the 2012–13 National Championships.Teams Marnus Labuschagne played for
CricketArchive. Retrieved 4 January 2020. In

Brisbane Grade Cricket Queensland Premier Cricket is the top cricket competition played in Queensland, Australia. The competition was founded under the name Brisbane Electoral Cricket in 1897 and eventually came to be known as Brisbane Grade Cricket, but has since expa ...

, he plays for Easts-Redlands District Cricket Club. He spent 2013 playing club cricket in England for

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

in the Devon Premier League and played for Sandwich Town Cricket Club in the Kent Premier League in 2014, scoring prolifically for both sides.Plymouth old boy set for Australian Test debut against Pakistan
Devon Cricket Board. Retrieved 4 January 2020.Harvey, Richard (19 May 2014
Shepherd Neame Kent Cricket League Premier Division wrap
''

Kent Online KM Media Group is a multimedia company in the county of Kent, England which originated as the publisher of the Kent Messenger. The Group now produces local newspapers, radio stations, TV and websites throughout the county. Yattendon Group#Iliff ...

''. Retrieved 4 January 2020. After playing just once for Queensland Academy, Labuschagne made his

debut in the first round of the

2014–15 Sheffield Shield season The 2014–15 Sheffield Shield season was the 113th season of the Sheffield Shield, the Australian domestic first-class cricket competition. It was held after the conclusion of the Matador BBQs One-Day Cup and included a break halfway through ...

against

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

at the

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. Opening the batting with Joe Burns, he scored 83 runs in Queensland's first innings, featuring in a 99-run fourth-wicket

partnership A partnership is an agreement where parties agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests. The partners in a partnership may be individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments or combinations. Organizations ...

with Nick Stevens. Later in the 2014–15 season, Labuschagne was used as a substitute fielder for the Australian national side in the second Test against

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

the Gabba The Brisbane Cricket Ground, commonly known as the Gabba, is a major sports stadium in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. The nickname Gabba derives from the suburb of Woolloongabba, in which it is located. Over the years, the Gab ...

, taking a low catch at short leg. Labuschagne made his

List A List A cricket is a classification of the Limited overs cricket, limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competit ...

debut for Queensland in the 2015 One-Day Cup in October 2015 and scored his maiden first-class century in the following month, making 112 runs in his eighth Sheffield Shield match. He scored 273 runs at a batting average of 45 in the 2016 One-Day Cup and was named player of the tournament. In September 2017, during a 2017 One-Day Cup match between Queensland and

Cricket Australia XI Cricket Australia XI is a domestic cricket team that plays matches against international teams touring Australia. Cricket Australia XI played in Australia's limited-overs tournament from 2015–16 to 2017–18. Before each tournament, a 14-ma ...

, he became the first fielder to be penalised under the newly introduced

Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

designed to stop fielders deceiving batsmen. Labuschagne dived to field a ball in the covers, and although he failed to stop the ball he feigned throwing to the wicket-keeper. His team was penalised five runs. After being Queensland's leading run-scorer in the 2017–18 Sheffield Shield,

Cricket Australia Cricket Australia (CA) is the governing body for professional and amateur cricket in Australia. It was originally formed in 1905 as the 'Australian Board of Control for International Cricket'. It is incorporated as an Australian Public Company ...

named him in their

Sheffield Shield The Sheffield Shield is the domestic first-class cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams representing the six states of Australia. The Sheffield Shield is named after Henry Holroyd, 3rd Earl of Sheffield, Lor ...

team of the season. In April 2021, Labuschagne scored 192 in the 2020–21 Sheffield Shield season final against

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. Queensland winning by an innings and 33 runs. In June 2024, Labuschagne was formally announced as Queensland Bulls state captain for both Sheffield Shield and One-Day Cup, having previously filled the role on two occasions in 2023 in One-Day Cup and Sheffield Shield matches against South Australia. In the 2024–25 Sheffield Shield season, Labuschagne switched from his part-time legspin to bowling medium pace in the lead-up to the Test series against India.

County cricket

In April 2019, Labuschagne signed for

Glamorgan County Cricket Club Glamorgan County Cricket Club () is one of eighteen first-class cricket, first-class county cricket, county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the Historic counties of Wales, historic county of Gla ...

for the 2019 English cricket season. He made 1,114 runs in his first

County Championship The County Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Rothesay County Championship, is the only domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales. Established in 1890, it is organised by the England and Wales Cri ...

season, including three centuries in his first four first-class matches - one of which was a then career-best 182 against

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

in a Glamorgan record second-wicket partnership of 291. He was the second-highest scorer in the Second Division of the County Championship, despite only playing in ten matches, and topped Glamorgan's batting averages with an average of 61.89 runs per innings. He also took 19 wickets with a bowling average of 38.11. In November 2019, he re-signed for Glamorgan for the next two seasons following his performances in the 2019 Ashes. In June 2020, Labuschagne's contract was extended for an extra season following the disruption of the 2020 season due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

International career

Tour of UAE against Pakistan 2018–19

In September 2018, he was named in Australia's

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

squad for their series against Pakistan. He made his Test debut for Australia against

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

on 7 October 2018, scoring a two-ball

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...

in his first innings and 13 runs in his second. He also took two wickets on debut. He had his baggy green cap presented by

Michael Hussey Michael Edward Killeen Hussey (born 27 May 1975) is an Australian cricket coach, commentator and former international cricketer, who played all forms of the game. Hussey is also widely known by his nickname 'Mr Cricket'. Hussey was a relative la ...

. In the second Test, he took another five wickets and made scores of 25 and 43, top scoring in Australia's second innings.

India and Sri Lanka in Australia 2018–19

Marnus was named in the Australian

One Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

squad in December 2018 ahead of the team's tour of India the following year before he was surprisingly added to the Australian Test squad for the fourth Test match against the touring Indians at the start of the year. He was selected to bat at number three in the batting order, a decision which was "heavily criticised" at the time. He scored 38 runs in his only innings and was retained in the side for the two Tests against Sri Lanka at the end of the summer.

Ashes in England 2019

After showing good early season form for Glamorgan in county cricket, he was named in Australia's squad for the

2019 Ashes series The 2019 Ashes series (officially the Specsavers Ashes Series for sponsorship reasons) was a series of Test cricket matches played between England and Australia for The Ashes in August and September 2019. The venues were Edgbaston, Lord's, Hea ...

in England. On 18 August 2019, Labuschagne replaced Steve Smith on day five of the second Test, after Smith suffered a concussion on the previous day – becoming the first player to be concussion substitute in a Test match following a change in the

's (ICC) regulations. Players substituted in this way are intended to be a "like for like" replacement, a role he "took very seriously". He went on to score 59 runs, the highest in the Australian second innings, and was selected for the third Test in Smith's absence, top-scoring in both Australian innings, batting in a style which was described as "exceptionally doughty, brave and intelligent batting". After England were bowled out for 67 in their first innings, Labuschagne became the fifth batsman in Test history to make two scores in a match higher than the total scored by the opposing team in one of their innings.

Pakistan and New Zealand in Australia 2019–20

Labuschagne retained his place in the Australian side for the visit of Pakistan the following summer, scoring 185, his maiden Test century, at the Gabba. He scored another century in the second Test before scoring a third in the first Test against New Zealand in December. Having made three consecutive centuries, he made half-centuries in his next two innings before starting 2020 by making his first double-century in the third Test against New Zealand at the SCG, scoring 215 runs. He finished 2019 as the year's highest Test match run-scorer, having made 975 of his 1,104 Test runs in the year after his appearance as a concussion substitute in August.

(31 December 2019
Labuschagne up 106 Test rankings spots in 2019
''

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''. Retrieved 9 January 2020. During the year he rose 106 places to become the fourth-ranked batsman on the ICC rankings.

Tours of India and South Africa 2019–20

In December 2019, Labuschagne was named in Australia's ODI squad for their 2020 tour of India. He made his ODI debut on 14 January; Australia won the match by ten wickets with Labuschagne not batting or bowling in the game. He played the remaining two ODIs of the series, scoring a maiden ODI half-century in the third match. After being retained in the Australian squad for their tour of South Africa, he scored his first ODI century in March, making 108 runs at

Potchefstroom Potchefstroom ( ; ), colloquially known as Potch, is an college town, academic city in the North West (South African province), North West Province of South Africa. It hosts the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University. Potchefstro ...

, close to his hometown. In April 2020,

awarded Labuschagne with a central contract ahead of the 2020–21 season. On 16 July 2020, Labuschagne was named in a 26-man preliminary squad of players to begin training ahead of a possible tour to England following the

. On 14 August 2020,

confirmed that the fixtures would be taking place, with Labuschagne included in the touring party.

New Zealand in Australia 2020

New Zealand returned to Australia after the Test series, with games scheduled to be held on the 13th, 15th and 20 March 2020. The first match was won by Australia, with a winning margin of 71 runs as Labuschagne made 56. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2nd and 3rd matches were cancelled without a ball being bowled due to travel restrictions. In February 2022, Labuschagne was named in Australia's

Twenty20 International Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of Twenty20 cricket, in which each team plays a single innings with a maximum of twenty overs. The matches are played between international teams recognized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). ...

(T20I) squad for their one-off match against Pakistan. He made his T20I debut on 5 April 2022, for Australia against

Ashes in England 2023

Labuschagne scored 328 runs at 32.8 with a century in the 4th Test. This was just his second century scored outside of Australia.

2023 Cricket World Cup

He was selected in Australia's squad for the 2023 World Cup. He scored a match-winning half century in the World Cup Final against India to take his team home.

India in Australia 2024–25

Ahead of the first test of the series, there was a lot of speculation about the form of Labuschagne. This intensified following his performance where was batted poorly in both innings. To make matters worse, Labuschagne was also criticized for his bowling.

Test records

In December 2022, on West Indies tour of Australia, Labuschagne achieved the 3000 run landmark, and became the joint second-fastest batter to achieve this feat. He took 51 innings to accomplish the landmark, equalling West Indies' batter

Everton Weekes Sir Everton DeCourcy Weekes, Order of St Michael and St George, KCMG, Gold Crown of Merit, GCM, Order of the British Empire, OBE (26 February 19251 July 2020) was a cricketer from Barbados. A right-handed batsman, he was known as one of the har ...

Achievements

* ICC Men's Test Team of the Year: 2019, 2021, 2022 * Shane Warne Men’s Test Player of the Year: 2020 * ICC Men's Emerging Cricketer of the Year: 2019

Personal life

Labuschagne married his wife, Rebekah, on 26 May 2017. Their first child, a daughter, Hallie was born on 20 September 2022. They have a chocolate Labrador named 'Milo' who has been known to make appearances on Labuschagne's Instagram playing backyard cricket. Labuschagne was brought up in a Christian household and committed to the faith aged 17. On his faith, Labuschagne says, "Sport is a fickle game and injuries play a big part. In the big scheme of things, what you're worth, what you put your value in, isn't out there on the pitch; it's internal and in Christ... cricket is always going to be up and down and if you have esus Christ asa constant in your life, it makes life a lot easier." Labuschagne has a strong love for coffee, having completed a barista course at the age of 21. He has been known to take his commercial grade coffee machine away on tour with the Australian Cricket Team. On the tour to Pakistan, he also took 30 kg of coffee beans and 1000L of oat milk for the team. Away from the field, Labuschagne has been known to hone his batting skills with home-made games in his backyard. In preparation for the 2022 Australian tour of Pakistan, he was seen practising batting on his home balcony in

on a rubber mat laden with pieces of taped aluminium and metal sheeting to try to emulate the variable bounce and turn of Pakistani wickets. Labuschagne is a supporter of

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

club the

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Red Hill, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos compete in the National Rugby League (NRL) and play their home games at ...

Statistics

:''Statistics are correct to January 11, 2024''

International centuries

, Labuschagne has scored 11 centuries in Test matches and two in ODIs.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Labuschagne, Marnus 1994 births Afrikaans-speaking people Australian cricketers Australia Test cricketers Australia One Day International cricketers Cricketers from Brisbane Living people Cricketers from Klerksdorp South African people of Afrikaner descent Queensland cricketers Queensland cricket captains South African emigrants to Australia Brisbane Heat cricketers People educated at Brisbane State High School Australian Christians Wisden Cricketers of the Year Australian people of Afrikaner descent Naturalised citizens of Australia Australia Twenty20 International cricketers Australian people of South African descent Sportspeople of South African descent 21st-century Australian sportsmen Cricketers at the 2023 Cricket World Cup