{"id":897182,"date":"2026-09-19T01:22:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-19T01:22:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/897182\/"},"modified":"2026-09-19T01:22:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-19T01:22:12","slug":"cricket-2026-marnus-labuschagne-opens-up-on-australia-form-odi-world-cup-selection-battle-one-day-marsh-cup-queensland-bulls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/897182\/","title":{"rendered":"Cricket 2026: Marnus Labuschagne opens up on Australia form, ODI World Cup selection battle, One-Day Marsh cup, Queensland Bulls"},"content":{"rendered":"

While Marnus Labuschagne is not in Zimbabwe with Australia\u2019s ODI squad, the 32-year-old is set to return for Queensland in their One-Day Cup opener against Victoria at Allan Border Field on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Labuschagne has been a major talking point this year because of his form for Australia and has not scored a Test century in more than three years.<\/p>\n

Watch Zimbabwe vs Australia ODI Series Live & Exclusive on Fox Cricket, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

But Labuschagne understands the criticism surrounding him.<\/p>\n

\u201cCriticism is part of the job,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo-one\u2019s criticising my character\u2026 they\u2019re criticising my performance, and I\u2019m the one that\u2019s allowed that, right?<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause of the lack of performance, I\u2019ve opened myself up to criticism.\u201d<\/p>\n

Labuschagne has historically been a strong performer for Australia, with a Test average of 43.79, a high score of 215, 11 centuries and 25 half-centuries.<\/p>\n

His form last summer for Queensland was a reminder of those capabilities.<\/p>\n

Labuschagne scored three hundreds in three weeks for Queensland, while piling on five tons in eight innings to earn his Test call-up.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, there\u2019s clearly a reason that I\u2019m still there, and I think the people that are in charge know that, and know the reason,\u201d Labuschagne said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow I\u2019ve performed in the last few years is clearly not my standard and where I want to be, and I\u2019m doing everything possible to make sure that I\u2019m going to get back there during this series in Africa.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Aussie young guns ignite World Cup squeeze as Head goes crazy, records fall in series-clinching win<\/a><\/p>\n

Marnus Labuschagne, from Queensland Cricket, Alan Border Field, Albion, September 17th, 2026 – Photo Steve PohlnerSource: News Corp Australia<\/p>\n

While not being selected for the tour of Zimbabwe, the time away has allowed Labuschagne some time to reset.<\/p>\n

\u201cI 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\u2019s time.\u201d<\/p>\n

As part of his preparation, Labuschagne has turned to new Queensland Bulls head coach James Hopes, who was also a former teammate of his.<\/p>\n

The time to talk about his batting and work through his technique with footage has been helpful as he looks to reignite his international career in South Africa for Australia.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had a lot of great discussions, spent a lot of time in his office looking at (batting) footage and talking cricket,\u201d Labuschagne said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd we\u2019ve come up with some things, and some thoughts that we\u2019ve got\u2026 I think that\u2019s what\u2019s great, that discussion, personally around my game and what he thinks, what he\u2019s seeing, and about our team and winning games for Queensland.\u201d<\/p>\n

An iconic century for Head v Zimbabwe | 06:18<\/p>\n

With a jam-packed summer and year ahead, including multiple international tours as well as games in Australia, managing himself will be crucial for Labuschagne.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince we\u2019ve been back from Bangladesh, it\u2019s just the balancing part of focus on technique and then intensity you want to simulate for the match, and separating sessions out like that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year I think I showed that I\u2019m playing very good domestic one-day cricket.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I\u2019m not coming out here needing to prove to anyone that I\u2019m a good enough player. I think they know that.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd if I get another opportunity (in the ODI side) my job is to take that.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Aussie young gun hints how he may fit into Test batting puzzle after white-ball breakout<\/a><\/p>\n

Zimbabwe v Australia: 2nd ODI Highlights | 15:43<\/p>\n

With the 2027 ODI World Cup drawing closer and players such as Cooper Connolly, Ollie Peake, Matt Renshaw and Cameron Green around the squad, selection will be a squeeze.<\/p>\n

But with his history and experience, it feels like Labuschagne is only an innings away from reigniting his international career.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While Marnus Labuschagne is not in Zimbabwe with Australia\u2019s ODI squad, the 32-year-old is set to return for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":897183,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[64,63,740,85],"class_list":["post-897182","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\/897182","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=897182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/897182\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/897183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=897182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=897182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=897182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}