Chameleon Labuschagne up to the challenge
BEN STOKES is not Harold Larwood and Marnus Labuschagne is not Don Bradman but there is a vivid link between the Bodyline tactics uncorked against both men by England nine decades apart.
In both cases the tactics were born out of pure desperation.
You bowl a tight line against Labuschagne outside off stump and he lets you go. You go wider on the crease and try to angle balls in and seam them away and even when you get it right he plays the line of the ball and misses it completely.
So you get Stokes to bounce him and hit him in the stomach, on the arms and hands and even as you celebrate the fact you are slowing him down, deep down you know it’s shallow comfort because you accept he is such a cricket nuffy he’s actually getting off on the challenge.
Just as Larwood’s tactics were a compliment to Bradman, so was Stokes’ tactic a nod to Labuschagne’s vast skill set because, as Mike Hussey pointed out on Fox Cricket, there is really only a couple of ways a bouncer barrage can get you out – so it is actually a low percentage play.
It’s true Labuschagne could and probably should have been out four times in his first Ashes century before he was lbw to Ollie Robinson when he was clearly mentally exhausted after a rugged innings.
But beneath the good fortune lies the inescapable truth that no one has truly cracked the Marnus code.
There’s no proven Plan A to cricket’s most improved batsman who has roared to 2000 Test runs quicker than everyone except Bradman and Hussey.
If you change tactics, he changes as well for he is a chameleon of the crease.