'A reason I'm still there': Marnus eyes season opener

Marnus Labuschagne will return to his happiest hunting ground in tomorrow's One-Day Cup opener, as the Queensland skipper looks to rediscover his Midas touch ahead of next month's Test series in South Africa.

Labuschagne has gone more than three years without a century in Baggy Green but the right-hander had no such trouble posting triple figures with his state at the beginning of last summer, piling on five tons in eight innings to regain his Test spot back for the Ashes.

And ground zero for much of that success was Allan Border Field, where he made three hundreds in three weeks last September-October, and where he today joined Fire captain Georgia Redmayne to launch Queensland Cricket's 150-year anniversary celebrations.

With the Bulls taking on Victoria in their opening one-day fixture, much of the attention will be on the form of Labuschagne, who was last week axed from Australia's ODI squad for series in Zimbabwe and South Africa and has faced immense scrutiny around his place in the Test side.

"Criticism is part of the job," the 32-year-old said today. "No-one's criticising my character … they're criticising my performance, and I'm the one that's allowed that, right? Because of the lack of performance, I've opened myself up to criticism.

"Now, there's clearly a reason that I'm still there, and I think the people that are in charge know that, and know the reason. How I've performed in the last few years is clearly not my standard and where I want to be, and I'm doing everything possible to make sure that I'm going to get back there during this series in Africa.

"I think not (being part of the ODI squad) has also given me a bit of time to prepare and get my game where I really want it to be for when I go there in a week-and-a-half's time."

That preparation has been carried out in the company of a fresh but familiar face. New Queensland head coach James Hopes played out the final two summers of his illustrious career alongside a young Labuschagne, while the mentor was also Bulls assistant coach as the Redlands batter broke out at domestic and then international level.

"We've had a lot of great discussions, spent a lot of time in his office looking at (batting) footage and talking cricket," Labuschagne says. "And we've come up with some things, and some thoughts that we've got … I think that's what's great, that discussion, personally around my game and what he thinks, what he's seeing, and about our team and winning games for Queensland."

After a high-volume preparation in the leadup to the Bangladesh Tests, the 65-Test veteran has more recently stripped the process back.

"Since we've been back from Bangladesh, it's just the balancing part of focus on technique and then intensity you want to simulate for the match, and separating sessions out like that," he says. "I always feel good batting in the nets – I feel like my game's in good order – but what's important is that phase where you're switching onto the game and investing in what you think is best way to score runs out there.

"Last year I think I showed that I'm playing very good domestic one-day cricket, so I'm not coming out here needing to prove to anyone that I'm a good enough player. I think they know that. And if I get another opportunity (in the ODI side) my job is to take that.

"Out here (at AB Field) I want to score as many runs as I can; any runs that you score are going to be good for your confidence and push me into a really good space going into South Africa for the Test matches, regardless of the format."

Qantas tour of South Africa 2026

All matches to be broadcast exclusively in Australia on Kayo and Fox Cricket

First ODI: September 24, Kingsmead Stadium, Durban, 6pm AEST (10am local)

Second ODI: September 27, Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg, 6pm AEST (10am local)

Third ODI: September 30, JB Marks Oval, Potchefstroom, 9:30pm AEST (D/N, 1:30pm local)

South Africa ODI squad: Temba Bavuma (c), Ottneil Baartman, Corbin Bosch, Matthew Breetzke, Gerald Coetzee, Quinton de Kock, Tony de Zorzi, Bjorn Fortuin, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kwena Maphaka, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs

Australia ODI squad: Mitchell Marsh, Pat Cummins, Xavier Bartlett, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Joel Davies, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Oliver Peake, Matthew Renshaw, Billy Stanlake, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa

Warm-up match: October 3-4, JB Marks Oval, Potchefstroom, 6pm AEST (10am local)

First Test: October 9-13, Kingsmead Stadium, Durban, 6:30pm AEDT (9:30am local)

Second Test: October 18-22, St George's Park, Gqeberha, 7pm AEDT (10am local)

Third Test: October 27-31, Newlands, Cape Town, 7:30pm AEDT (10:30am local)

Australia Test squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster