{"id":286674,"date":"2025-11-15T18:27:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-15T18:27:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/286674\/"},"modified":"2025-11-15T18:27:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-15T18:27:12","slug":"how-coach-neil-dcosta-revived-test-career-with-phillip-hughes-oval-visit-drills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/286674\/","title":{"rendered":"How coach Neil D’Costa revived Test career with Phillip Hughes Oval visit, drills"},"content":{"rendered":"

Things are far rosier now. Labuschagne has peeled off five hundreds in a seven-match stretch for Queensland across all formats and is virtually assured of returning to Australia\u2019s XI for Friday\u2019s first Ashes Test.<\/p>\n

D\u2019Costa fronted Labuschagne, who he\u2019d worked with since 2017, and asked if he\u2019d been doing the drills. The same drills every D\u2019Costa player must do, from Clarke and Hughes to NSW opener Will Salzmann, to Sydney first grade triple-centurion Harjas Singh<\/a>, to Hills Grammar school student Alish Hirani, who hit 309 not out this week, to the regular 12-year-old just trying to make a rep team.<\/p>\n

It is no coincidence D\u2019Costa produces so many polished batting prospects. His methods, shaped by thousands of hours studying the greats, have worked for more than two decades.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t been doing them,\u201d Labuschagne admitted.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell what am I doing here?\u201d D\u2019Costa shot back. \u201cYou think they\u2019re for 10-year-olds? Are you serious?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYour bat is nowhere. Your last few games are a disgrace and you\u2019re whinging about people not backing you? You don\u2019t even look like the guy who used to play.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Marnus<\/p>\n

Marnus Labuschagne at Australia training in Sri Lanka this year. Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n

D\u2019Costa made Labuschagne, another man of faith, promise \u201con God\u201d to get back and do the drills. If he did, D\u2019Costa said, there was no reason he couldn\u2019t become one of the game\u2019s greats.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you don\u2019t do the drills, you don\u2019t know where your starting point is,\u201d D\u2019Costa says. \u201cYou\u2019re in the middle of nowhere. Does that sound like how he looked?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt frustrated me because people were saying he\u2019d lost it. He hadn\u2019t lost it. He just wasn\u2019t doing the drills. It was like watching a ship sinking.\u201d<\/p>\n

In D\u2019Costa\u2019s view, Labuschagne had drifted from the framework that once made him so impenetrable. His shape had become \u201cloose\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"Batting<\/p>\n

Batting coach Neil D\u2019Costa. Credit: James Brickwood<\/p>\n

They stripped everything back. Much of the technical work remains confidential \u2013 D\u2019Costa knows every flaw England will try to expose this summer \u2013 but no stone was left unturned.<\/p>\n

Across three days, from 9.30am to 1pm at the Brisbane Cricket Centre, the pair attacked the basics with bowling machines, batting tees and \u201cwangers\u201d \u2013 the tennis-ball flingers often used with dogs.<\/p>\n

Labuschagne hit balls barefoot, froze in positions after contact, focused on breathing patterns, faced underarms and shadow-batted endlessly.<\/p>\n

D\u2019Costa, trained to spot flaws within seconds, rebuilt him methodically from the ground up.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did a very intense workout. He had to do it across four weeks,\u201d D\u2019Costa says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s building that muscle memory right from the ground to the end of the shot. Some cricketers have egos. They just want to hit balls on the bowling machines. Baseballers who get paid $16 million a year practise off a tee.<\/p>\n

\u201cDepending on who you\u2019re playing, where you\u2019re playing and the conditions, you can then just make adjustments on the run, but the framework remains the same.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think at times he was becoming very rigid.\u201d<\/p>\n

They agreed progress had been made. As Labuschagne prepared to fly to the UK for the WTC final against South Africa, he promised to continue the drills.<\/p>\n

\"Australia\u2019s<\/p>\n

Australia\u2019s Marnus Labuschagne walks off the field after losing his wicket in the World Test Championship final. Credit: AP<\/p>\n

Thrown up to open, Labuschagne made 17 and 22 at Lord\u2019s, but importantly, soaked up 120 balls. A week later, he was dropped for the first Test against the West Indies, having gone 30 innings without a hundred.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the WTC, we just started seeing something \u2026 he was playing a little better. He knew it, others knew it, but I think he had to be dropped,\u201d D\u2019Costa says. \u201cIt\u2019s a blister. You\u2019ve got to pop it. It\u2019ll look a little bit ugly for a little while, but then the air gets in, and it gets better.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the Caribbean, now out of the team, Labuschagne spent hours on match days facing Scott Boland \u2013 another player outside the XI \u2013 in fierce net duels. He and D\u2019Costa exchanged messages: a simple g\u2019day, an emoji, a song, a quote.<\/p>\n

But D\u2019Costa continued to annoy Labuschagne about doing the drills.<\/p>\n

\"Marnus<\/p>\n

Marnus Labuschagne is set to return to the Test team, but at what position is unclear.Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n

When Labuschagne returned to Australia, D\u2019Costa could see the changes. His \u201cline\u2033\u2063 was straight to the ball. He was hitting the ball wide of mid-on, cashing in on balls on his hip, striking crisply through the covers and defending with conviction.<\/p>\n

He was balanced. His head was still. His \u201cshapes\u2033\u2063 were back.<\/p>\n

Then came the runs:<\/p>\n

130 in a one-dayer against Victoria.160 in a Sheffield Shield match against Tasmania.105 against Tasmania in a one-dayer.159 against South Australia in Adelaide.101 against NSW in Sydney.\"Marnus<\/p>\n

Marnus Labuschagne has started the summer strongly.Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n

Everything clicked. The relief was palpable. On November 5, Labuschagne was named in Australia\u2019s Test squad. Others in the D\u2019Costa stable, like Salzmann and Singh, belted runs for fun.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou develop a close relationship with guys you work with and you live their ups and downs,\u201d D\u2019Costa says. \u201cI\u2019m still competitive. I want to create the best player I can to score runs and dominate. It makes me smile and gives me joy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just really proud Marn took it on the chin and said, \u2018Yep, I need to change\u2019. Not many people can do that, right? I can\u2019t be more proud of him.\u201d<\/p>\n

After his century against NSW, Labuschagne acknowledged the tweaks.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about sticking to your process of how you\u2019re going about it and keep trying to invest in reading the game out there, not in the nets,\u201d Labuschagne said. \u201cThen trust your skills when you\u2019re out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

D\u2019Costa isn\u2019t fussed where Labuschagne bats against England \u2013 \u201cJustin Langer averaged 41 at No.3 for Australia and 50 as an opener\u201d \u2013 but believes he will flourish either way.<\/p>\n

Loading<\/p>\n

Labuschagne is like a son to D\u2019Costa, as Hughes once was. It\u2019s why the arrival of Labuschagne\u2019s baby son Judah this year will be one more source of motivation this summer as he tries to deliver on months of hard work.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said to Marn, \u2018I suspect having your son watch you play Test cricket would be important to you?\u2019\u201d D\u2019Costa says.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe agreed. I said, \u2018It\u2019s not over if we do this right.\u2019 I would have loved to live that dream of playing for Australia. It\u2019s not easy to come back from being dropped.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you get up in the morning and see they\u2019ve done well, it does feel good.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Things are far rosier now. Labuschagne has peeled off five hundreds in a seven-match stretch for Queensland across…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":286675,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[64,63,740,85],"class_list":["post-286674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cricket","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286674","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=286674"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286674\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/286675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=286674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=286674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=286674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}