Marnus Labuschange made it to the Australian Test team primarily as a batsman who could bowl a bit of leg-spin. In the first Test against Pakistan in Dubai, he was told by the team management that he will be required to roll his arm over as the Aussies had an off-spinner in Nathan Lyon and a left-arm spinner in Jon Holland but no wrist spinner.
When was pressed into action in the first innings as Pakistan openers Mohammad Hafeez and Imam-ul-Haq added 205 for the first wicket, he started to make things happen. Wrist spinners tend to do that. The more he bowled, the more it became clear there was more to his bowling than gentle lobs.
He got the well-set Asad Shafid, batting on 80, to feather one to the keeper off a ball that pitched and turned sharply in the first innings in Dubai. In Abu Dhabi, his emboldened leg-spinners caused greater damage as he beat Fakhar Zaman on 94 twice to eventually have him lbw before inducing a false shot from captain Sarfraz Ahmed to have him caught, again on 94. In between, he had Bilal Asif caught behind with a classic leg-spinner’s dismissal.
Since Shane Warne retired, an Australian leg-spinner has taken 3+ wickets in a Test innings on three occasions. The first two were by Steve Smith, the third being today, by Marnus Labuschagne. #PAKvAUS
— The Cricket Prof. (@CricProf) October 16, 2018
All indications are that Labuschange can become a proper leg-spinner and lower order mainstay of the Australian team, while complementing the off-spin of Nathan Lyon. If he does go down this road, it would be the exact opposite to what the still banned Steve Smith did at the start of his career.
The Australian star batsman started off as a spirited leg-spinner who could bat a bit. But soon he realised his spin wasn’t enough to get by in international cricket. So he took his eccentric batting stance and threw everything he had at it, blossoming into an all-format all condition batsman par excellence. Smith leg-spinners were consigned to the outback of Australian cricket even though it rears its head every now and then.
The story is similar to that of Pakistan great Shahid Afridi who was drafted into the side as a leg-spinning replacement for Mushtaq Ahmed in 1996 in Kenya. He didn’t get to bat in his first match against Kenya, pencilled in at No9, but bowled 10 wicketless overs. In the next game against reigning world champions Sri Lanka, he was promoted up the order as a ‘pinch hitter’. Afridi smashed what long stood as the fastest century in ODI history – off 37 balls. And the rest was history.
However while Smith continues to remain a proper batsman, Afridi chose to concentrate on his bowling in the latter half of his stupendous career, turning into a leg-spinning lower order batsman; something he had ostensibly started as.
What route will Labuschange take?
