Marnus Labuschagne has reflected on being involved in the extraordinarily tied County Championship game earlier this week and admitted that Glamorgan thought they were home in their bid for a world-record run chase.
Labuschagne contributed a century as Glamorgan came within a whisker of chasing down 593 against Gloucestershire. The dramatic finish saw Glamorgan needing just two runs from the final over to secure victory. Mason Crane faced the first four balls without scoring before taking a single, leaving No. 11 Jamie McIlroy on strike. McIlroy edged Ajeet Dale through to James Bracey, who took a spectacular one-handed catch after removing his right glove in preparation for a potential bye attempt by the batters.
“Whenever you are chasing a big score like that it’s always about one step at a time,” Labuschagne told SEN Radio. “But the ground we played at was [a] very fast outfield so you just felt like if you got on top of the opposition and you scored and batted well, things could get out of hand very quickly.”
“That’s always in the back of your mind but you are just taking it one step at a time. Then when it gets down to 100 you start getting a little more invested and you get a bit more eager, then it gets down to 50, then we lost a couple more wickets and we are like, do we bat the draw or go all in for the win.”
“So there were heaps of ups and downs and even into the last over, we got a boundary off the last ball of the second last over of the day, then we thought we were home. Needed two runs off the last over, we had Mason Crane the batter in on strike. He ended up facing four dots and then got a single, so it’s over to the No. 11 to get the job done.”
“Incredible game…we got their score, we just couldn’t get one more.”
Labuschagne’s innings was a significant part of Glamorgan’s massive second innings. Despite the disappointment of falling just short, his performance showcased his ability to rise to the occasion in challenging situations.
This match marked Labuschagne’s final County Championship game for Glamorgan this season. He will now turn his focus to a run of T20 Blast matches before returning to Australia. Labuschagne has been named Queensland’s new captain and will join them for pre-season preparations, potentially returning to England for the ODI series in mid-September.
Labuschagne scored 468 runs at an average of 58.50 in four first-class matches, including two centuries. This form comes after a relatively lean period in his Test career, where he has managed just one century in his last 20 Tests, although he did score 90 against New Zealand in March.
“The ups and downs of the game are part of the challenge,” he said. “For me, it was just a good opportunity to review before I came here on how I’ve been successful, what have I done in different time periods that I’ve been batting well… have done a few technical things and worked on a few things and it’s coming together really nicely, so setting up nicely for some one-day cricket and some Test cricket coming up this summer.”
“I always look at my game from a technical lens, finding out ways to improve and get better, and especially with my technique making sure my alignment is good, moving into the ball well, all those sorts of things [are] really important for me.”
Labuschagne’s season with Glamorgan also included a highlight reel catch in the T20 Blast, which became a social media sensation.
“It’s definitely the best catch I’ve taken that’s been caught on camera, that’s for sure,” he said. “I took a catch in club cricket when I was 18 or 19, the boys that I play with at Queensland always say it was another very good catch, but unfortunately we don’t have that on camera, so as good as it never happened.”
Labuschagne could be available for at least the first month of the Sheffield Shield season for Queensland, with more appearances possible depending on player management around the white-ball series against Pakistan in November. The first Test against India starts in Perth on November 22.
“It’s there in the back of my mind stewing along,” he said of the prospect of facing India, “but when you are playing you are always trying to focus on the here and now.
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