Image Credit- AFP
Steven Smith spoke briefly about his second-inning leg
before wicket at Optus Stadium as he left, while Marnus Labuschagne had to
visit the hospital the previous evening following a severe blow to his hand on
a pitch that was becoming more and more resentful.
Despite Labuschagne’s admission that he was
“nervous” for a short while, Australia won by 360 runs and neither of
those moments proved to be crucial. However, it continues what can certainly be
called as a difficult 2023 for two of Australia’s greatest-ever players, since
neither has quite been able to reach their prior spectacular heights.
To be clear, this is by no means a crisis. With three
centuries, Smith’s yearly average stands at 42.65, while Labuschagne’s figure,
which came from a match-saving hundred at Old Trafford, is 35.04. Even still,
it’s far less than what we’ve grown used to. In a year where Smith has played
five or more Tests, it’s his lowest average since 2013, and it’s Labuschagne’s
most austere year since he broke through in Test cricket in 2019.
Prior to the Perth Test, Smith acknowledged that he
had not performed to his full potential. He stayed in the middle for most of
the innings, looking sharp, but he was given a bit of a working over by Khurram
Shahzad, who debuted, before he was bowled out for a really wide delivery in
the first and nearly out in the second. Regretfully, Shahzad’s injury curtailed
his tour before he could add to those victories.
Even though he had set extremely high standards,
Labuschagne is the more intriguing example because he had the most difficult
year of his Test career to date. Ravindra Jadeja was troubling him too, even
though he reached double digits in all but one of his eight innings played in
India. In the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston, he was then destroyed by Stuart
Broad’s outswinger, which Broad was delighted to declare was specifically made
for him. Additionally, during a pivotal juncture in the Headingley Test, when
Australia was likely just a few hours away from establishing a 3-0 lead, there
came the uncharacteristic slog sweep.
The fact that Smith has been waiting to add to his MCG
hundreds and that Labuschagne has been having greater difficulty at the ground
since the moribund 2017–18 Ashes Test revived the surface, however, is not
irrelevant. Matt Page, the groundskeeper, has assured me that this year’s
bowlers will receive help once more. If they want to close the year on a
positive note for themselves, they may need to put in some extra effort, but
few would be shocked if they succeeded.