Watch: Marnus Labuschagne might be known better for his silken strokeplay, but his ability to surprise batsmen with bouncers while bowling leg-spin is quickly garnering attention in county cricket.

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Labuschagne, part of Glamorgan since 2019, was bowling fifth change during their group three County Championship match against Lancashire in Manchester last week, when he decided to test out No.7 Luke Wood’s reflexes with a bumper out of nowhere. Keeping his customary run-up, he switched to seam-up in his stride, firing one at Wood’s head. The batsman promptly ducked for cover, and wicketkeeper Chris Cooke did really well to complete the overhead take on the leg-side.

The 26-year-old’s short-pitch ploy isn’t entirely new though; last year, Glamorgan released a 44-second clip of Labuschagne troubling batsmen with his pacy bumpers, some of the deliveries appearing particularly nasty.

Labuschagne’s bouncers represent the evolution of the new-age spinner, who doesn’t just bowl juicy volleys to batsmen, but has added a variant usually associated with the quicks. Shahid Afridi is perhaps the best exponent of the short-ball surprise, using his short run-up to generate ample pace and bounce. Shane Warne, too, traded turn for bounce on certain days, while more recently, Qais Ahmad floored Andre Russell with his own rendition in the BBL.

While nothing matches the magnificence of a spinner’s subtle variations, the bouncer seems to be turning into a handy option for tweakers too.

Here’s Labuschagne’s bumper against Lancashire:

Here’s the compilation of his bouncers, released last year:

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