Australia's Marnus Labuschagne hungry for runs ahead of bumper summer
- Planet Sport writer
- 2 June 2023
Australia's Marnus Labuschagne is eager to impress with the willow on a bumper tour of England which includes the World Test Championship Final and the Ashes.
Runs, runs and more runs is what Marnus Labuschagne is after in the WTC Final against India and the highly anticipated Ashes series against England.
Australia's packed summer schedule begins next week against India before they face England in a bid to retain the Ashes.
And Labuschagne admitted he is mentally ready for the upcoming challenges, having become a mainstay at number three in Australia's batting line-up.
"Mentally, I am as hungry as ever to score runs and I want us to win the series," Labuschagne said.
"I'm a more consistent player in the side so in terms of the feeling it's more about preparation where in 2019 I felt like I had to prove to people that I was good enough."
Labuschagne looked back at Australia's 4-0 series win over England in 2022 and called for a similar outcome when the sides renew their rivalry later this month.
And the Glamorgan player shed light on how his side will prepare in the days and weeks ahead, with a short turnaround between games against India and England.
He added: "I'm not going to get into a verbal battle but it's a series and Australia dominated that series (4-0 in 2022) and that's about as much said and our job is to perform no matter of the circumstances and we did that, so hopefully we can continue to do that this series.
"We've played a lot of their (India's) main seamers two months ago so in terms of seeing them and knowing their actions, we're pretty clear on that.
"The reality is that I've played against (England's) Ollie Robinson, Josh Tongue and Matt Potts this year, I've played against all those guys, I know what they bowl so it's just about preparing well and understanding what they're going to do.
"Jimmy (Anderson), Broady (Stuart Broad) and Ollie Rob (Robinson) are probably going to come in but it's a matter of mentally preparing for each one, there's similarities between each bowler even though they play for different teams."
England will be without key bowler Jofra Archer who has been ruled out of the Ashes with an elbow injury.
Labuschagne talked up the fast bowler and admitted England are at a disadvantage without him.
"I always want to play against the best players," Labuschagne said.
"Any England team that doesn't have Archer in it isn't as strong so that's always a benefit from a playing-against perspective. You always want to see the best players on the park and that's what is good for Test cricket."
