‘You’ve got to be joking’: Marnus rejects batting demotion

Australia's players joked that Yasir Shah may have 'poked the bear' with his seven-fingered send-off to Steve Smith last week, and coach Justin Langer might have inadvertently done to same to Marnus Labuschagne ahead of his maiden Test ton.

On the eve of the second Domain Test in Adelaide, Langer has revealed how his quiet suggestion that Labuschagne be moved one spot down the batting order at the Gabba was met with the same dismissive resolve the Queenslander then displayed across more than six hours of batting against Pakistan's bowlers.

As Labuschagne's wait for his turn at the crease in Brisbane extended beyond the four-hour mark, Langer suggested his number three might be well served to take a break and bat behind Smith in the order having spent countless amounts of nervous energy as the next man in.

But the idea that the undisputed 'biggest cricket nuffy' in the Australian side – the man most obsessed with the game – would be forced to wait even longer for his chance in the middle was not well received.

"It was so funny – when Joe Burns and David Warner were on about 200, he'd been sitting around for three of four hours," Langer recalled to SEN on Thursday.

"I said to him, 'should we consider changing the batting order and getting Steve Smith in?' He'd been sitting there for a long time and it can be mentally taxing.

"He looked at me like I'd just stolen his bike. He said 'you've got to be joking!'

"And from the first ball, he hit the ball in the middle of his bat and scored his first Test hundred.

"That's his enthusiasm for the game. To open the batting or bat at number three, you must have that because you've got to be sharp all the time."

Former Australian batsman Mike Hussey earned the moniker Mr Cricket for his tireless work ethic and love of the game, but Smith and Labuschagne take cricketing obsessions to new levels.

Smith is famous for spending hours in the nets facing throw downs and bowling from anyone who's willing to help quench his seemingly insatiable thirst for batting, and also shadow batting in his hotel room at all hours of the day and night.

But in a recent survey of Australia's leading players by cricket.com.au, Labuschagne's teammates said his love of cricket – away from the game as much as at training and matches – surpasses even Smith's.

"Marnus is easily the biggest cricket nuffy," Labuschagne's Ashes teammate Peter Siddle said.

"Smithy loves his batting, practicing and shadow batting. But Marnus is next level.

"If it works (he should) keep doing it. In England, he was getting worse and he was playing better."

Domain Test Series v Pakistan

Australia squad: Tim Paine (c), Cameron Bancroft, Joe Burns, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner

Pakistan squad: Azhar Ali (c), Abid Ali, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Haris Sohail, Imam-ul-Haq, Imran Khan Snr, Iftikhar Ahmed, Kashif Bhatti, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Musa Khan, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood, Yasir Shah.

First Test: Australia won by an innings and five runs.

Second Test: November 29 – December 3, Adelaide (d/n) (Seven, Fox & Kayo)