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Golden boy Marnus backed to show ODI skill

3 minute read

Marnus Labuschagne's marvellous summer has continued at the SCG and the batsman's form will translate to ODI cricket, according to Josh Hazlewood.

MARNUS LABUSCHAGNE of Australia during the Specsavers Ashes Test between England and Australia at Old Trafford in Manchester, England.
MARNUS LABUSCHAGNE of Australia during the Specsavers Ashes Test between England and Australia at Old Trafford in Manchester, England. Picture: Gareth Copley/Getty Images

Having taken Test cricket by storm in near-unprecedented fashion, Australia's form batsman Marnus Labuschagne will soon prove he belongs in the one-day arena.

That is the opinion of Josh Hazlewood, who can't wait to make his international return from injury in what will be the prolific batsman's ODI debut.

Labuschagne's coming-of-age summer continued on Saturday at the SCG, where he fell for 215 after celebrating a maiden double ton.

The right-hander's Test average is 63.63, above that of Steve Smith, after scoring four Test centuries in a record-breaking stretch of dominance.

Labuschagne's next challenge, as he referenced at the SCG, is to become a three-format star like Smith and David Warner.

The 25-year-old hasn't had a chance yet but will make his ODI debut on Australia's tour of India, which starts on January 14 in Mumbai.

Most modern-day cricketers don the coloured clothes before receiving a baggy green; not since the late Phillip Hughes has an Australian played so many Tests before making their one-day debut.

But Labuschagne isn't like most cricketers, as he proved yet again in the third trans-Tasman Test.

"He'll be perfect in the middle order for us in one-day cricket," Hazlewood told AAP.

"I watched a bit of day one and, from his first ball, he looked to score the whole time and his hundred came off 160-odd balls.

"He's great at rotating the strike but can also find the boundary ... and he's a real fighter. He showed that grit in the Ashes.

"It's amazing to see where he is now compared to 12 months ago. To score four hundreds in a summer is unreal and his hunger for runs is what sticks out."

Labuschagne was player of the tournament in the 2016-17 domestic one-day competition, while he scored 364 runs at 60.66 for Queensland in this summer's 50-over tournament.

Hazlewood was at the SCG on day one of the series finale then travelled to Coffs Harbour, where he will return from a hamstring strain in Sunday's BBL clash between the Sydney Sixers and Adelaide.

The paceman, who hasn't represented the Sixers since 2013-14, will play two BBL games before boarding the plane to India.

"It's come at a perfect time. It'll be great to have some completive hit-outs before that one-day tour," Hazlewood said.

"Everything went pretty well in my rehab. I've bowled four times outdoors off the long run, so I feel pretty confident."

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