The opening day of the fourth Ashes Test has witnessed extremely windy conditions at the Old Trafford on Wednesday (September 4) and Australian batsman Marnus Labuschagne said it was really frustrating for the players to play in such conditions in Manchester.
The strong wind repeatedly blowing the bails off their grooves led to England’s Stuart Broad getting really frustrated, which forced the on-field umpires Kumar Dharmasena and Marais Erasmus to carry on playing without the bails Labuschagne found it quite difficult to bat on.
Despite all the drama at the Old Trafford, Labuschagne (66) managed to hit his fourth consecutive half-century in the ongoing Ashes 2019, as well as, added 116 runs with Steve Smith after Australian openers poorly lost their wickets to England to guide the team to a position of setting the foundation for a big score in the first innings.
Following the tough Day 1, Labuschagne believes that the spin will play a big part in the outcome of the fourth Ashes Test, as England bowlers are also struggling to bowl in Manchester.
Labuschagne told reporters after Day’s play, “It was probably frustrating for everyone, 'cause the one I pulled away I thought the bails fell off so I looked back and the bails were still on. Then I had to pull away when the chip packets kept coming past and the beach ball.”
The right-hander continued, “It was probably just frustrating for the game in general. They're just getting frustrated 'cause we have to pull away 'cause there's stuff there and the bails, when they put the bails on you could just see the stumps shake and it was just a matter of time before they came off. It was very windy out there. I've never played a game where you've played with no bails, so that was very different. All in all, it was pretty tough conditions for bowling out there.”
Despite the distractions, Labuschagne, batting at No.3 for the first time in the ongoing Test series, has shown a great patient with the bat at the crease.
The 25-year-old said, “It was important for us to make sure we dig in and get big first innings score because there's some spin out there so it's really good for us. It's been a good day obviously. We wanted to keep making sure we were really disciplined because it can turn very quickly out there.”
The Aussie continued, “We haven't been getting too far ahead we've been doing well and we haven't been getting too far down when we've been doing poorly so we've just been quite consistent I think you know that that's probably the key to not let momentum take its course. Today the conditions, the wind, it was tough to get used to it and get consistent with your movements because it was so windy and there were so many distractions around the ground.”
Meanwhile, Labuschagne said he enjoyed the experience of batting with the ever consistent Smith – batting together for the first time in the series, describing it as "good fun".
The Aussie continued, “It was good fun. It was good to spend some time with him and a good experience to see how he goes about it and also learn from him out there. What makes him the best in the world is that he's always one step ahead and thinking ahead and not being reactive. He's being proactive, which makes him very hard to bowl to.”
On his wicket taken by Craig Overton with a perfect in-swinger, Labuschagne credited his skills. He signed off by saying, “It was a nice ball. It hit the seam and just kept going with the seam. He was swinging the ball away most of the time, he bowled a few that angled in and hit the seam. It was a good piece of bowling. I need to make sure I'm ready and able to keep those out.”
(With ICC inputs)
