Watch: Marnus Labuschagne ditched leg-spin and turned up to bowl pace for Redlands Tigers, his club in grade cricket, in 2020 shortly after a record-breaking Test season with the bat for Australia.
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Labuschgane is a favourite of the Redlands Tigers, the Brisbane club, with the Redlands MP and councilor terming him a “role model” once. “If there was ever a testament to junior sport and junior cricket in the Redlands, it is Marnus,” the OODGEROO MP Mark Robinson was quoted as saying in early 2020, shortly after Labushcagne’s Ashes heroics.
As though to reiterate his loyalty to the club, Labuschagne, soon after piling 896 Test runs in the 2019/20 season, the most by any player, turned up for the club and showed off his bowling skills, something Australia coach Justin Langer says he practices for hours.
“You’ve seen this incredible rise in his batting, but you’ve never seen anybody bowl more,” national coach Justin Langer said on SEN. “Marnus bats a lot, but he just bowls for hours and hours and hours and hours. Usually, when you do that, you get better. I don’t think he’ll ever become a frontline leggie. But if you’ve got a top-order batsman in Test or one-day cricket who can bowl leg-spin with the passion and energy he does, he becomes an awesome part of the team.”
Credit to @marnus3cricket he is a true advocate of the game. Always gives back to his local club and makes time for everyone 😍 https://t.co/EmKfumGnj0
— Redlands Tigers CC (@tigerlandcc) February 28, 2021
Well, leg-spin isn’t the only bowling art Labuschagne has up his sleeve. He steamed in to bowl some fiery medium pace for his grade cricket side and even had a batter caught in a tightly-packed slip cordon as you’ll see in the video.
