‘They weren’t happy’ – Marnus Labuschagne explains tetchy replacement-ball discussion with Ben Stokes
Ashes 2023: Marnus Labuschagne has explained what went on in a tense chat between him and England captain Ben Stokes during a ball change on the fourth day of the fourth Test at Emirates Old Trafford.
With England searching for the six wickets they needed to draw level in the series, they found not just Labuschagne, but also a damp outfield standing in their way. The original ball took on water and lost its shape, and the umpires decreed that a replacement was needed.
However, after England had picked out a ball from the box of options, Labuschagne took the chance to pick out their choice and have a look at it himself, something which clearly frustrated Stokes, and led to an exchange of words between the two.
Speaking at the end of play, Labuschagne revealed the details of the interaction.
“They weren’t happy that I wanted to have a look at the ball,” he said. “I just wanted to have a look at the ball because, in this country it’s pretty clear if you look at the ball once you know what it’s going to do. I looked at the ball once and I was like ‘Well this is going to swing’, and I threw it back.
“They were obviously not very happy, but I said it to Ben out there. ‘Why do you want to have a look at the ball?’ he asked me, and I said, ‘To see if it’s going to swing’. Jimmy Anderson went, first ball he bowled to me, big in-swinger.
“I think it just helps you prepare, you know what you’re facing. It’s not like I’ve been out there with a deteriorating ball that I know what it’s doing. The ball before was reversing slightly. It’s a brand new ball but it’s not a brand new ball. It’s a different type of ball and it could do anything.”
That wasn’t the last of the drama, with England’s quicks allowed just one over with the replacement ball before being told that the light had deteriorated to the extent that only spin could be bowled. Labuschagne went on to reach his first Test century in England, an innings that looks likely to retain the Ashes for Australia, with rain setting in on the final day in Manchester.
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