Marnus Labuschagne footage comes to light after brutal incident in Test
The No.3 copped an ugly blow on day 3 sparking doubt.
Marnus Labuschagne has appeared to shake-off a hand injury that he sustained on day 3 of the cricket Test against Pakistan after the medical team helped the batter out in the middle. With cracks emerging on a hard and bouncy Perth wicket, the Steve Smith and Labuschagne were in the wars having been hit late in the day.
Labuschagne was dismissed and went back to the change rooms where he was sent for scans after the nasty blow. The No.3 batter did appear in discomfort, but in strong signs for Australia moving forward Labuschagne was facing Lance Morris in the nets before play on day 4 and appeared to be fine.
'UN-AUSTRALIAN': David Warner in 'horrible' development after century
'SORRY TO HEAR': Cricket world rallies around Cameron Green after reveal
Smith resumed out in the middle on day 4 on 43, but also took a knock late in the day. The mercurial Aussie appeared in no doubt about walking out into the middle on day 4, but only scored two more runs before being dismissed. And teammate Josh Hazlewood predicted it would become difficult to face the quicks the longer the match continued.
“The batting looks really tough there at the end," Hazlewood said on Saturday. “As the game goes along, I think the cracks will come more into play,” he said. “It is another hot day tomorrow, I believe.
"We haven’t seen a cloud since we got here, actually, so I think it will be hot tomorrow and the cracks will start to come into play.” Labuschagne was confirmed to be fine after the scary moment, which means a reshuffle of the order will not be needed to the second Test.
Here’s Marnus Labuschagne facing Lance Morris in the nets now. His finger is surely fine #AusvPak pic.twitter.com/KsIhJB6pfO
— Bharat Sundaresan (@beastieboy07) December 17, 2023
Word from the Australian team is both Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith are both fine after getting hit by the cricket ball late yesterday while batting. Smith has already been in the nets this morning ahead of resuming on 43 not out. @SEN_Cricket
— Adam White (@White_Adam) December 17, 2023
Josh Hazlewood warns batters over Perth wicket
Hazlewood doubled down on his thoughts batting later in the Test and said the batters could expect a barrage of shorter balls due to the cracks and inconsistent bounces emerging. “I think it’s probably going to be tougher to play the short ball than in the first innings,” Hazlewood added.
“Probably in the last (innings) Pakistan just sort of ducked underneath and knew it was going over the top, (but) I think with the up and down movement, that could be a play, I guess, in the second innings potentially. “But I still think there’s enough there on the front foot to take 10 wickets as well. It is hard work if the bowling team gets it right.”
Sign up to our newsletter and score the biggest sport stories of the week.
