The selection dilemma between Marnus and Marcus

By that point, Marnus Labuschagne had been tinkering with the pair of wicket-keeping gloves for approximately fifteen minutes. After completing one of his usual long hits in the nets, top selection George Bailey joined him for a conversation. It also lasted for a good fifteen minutes. Not long afterward, Marnus Labuschagne was standing up, locating the gloves, and donning them. His next assignment was to search his kit bag for a cricket ball. When he was finished, he started tossing the ball into the air and catching it over and over again like a child who didn’t want recess to stop.

He was, however, biding his time until one of the two nets on the Eden Gardens’ side square became available. Because Marnus Labuschagne wanted to try his hand at wicket-keeping anyhow, or at least give it some more practice. Steve Smith was deep in one of his “I’ll be done when I feel like” net sessions, but he knew that his fellow batting sad had to wait for the one next to him to empty. And Labuschagne was in there, wearing a helmet now, as soon as he witnessed it happen. He had persuaded a net bowler to bowl some off-breaks while he stood behind the stumps.

He made up for missing the first delivery by catching the ball and, with great agility, pulling off two virtual stumpings. But it ended there. Marnus Labuschagne, the future reserve wicketkeeper, had no choice but to leave the field because Cameron Green had chosen to take one more hit. Rather, he stood at the back, talking to Andy Flower and Alex Carey about the art of wicketkeeping.

You couldn’t help but wonder, as you watched from the stands at Eden Gardens above the clubhouse, whether Marnus Labuschagne was just being himself or if he was trying to get Bailey and the selectors to pay attention. It’s not as though nobody in the Australian camp is falling for Labuschagne’s sudden enthusiasm for taking a position behind the stumps. even though he was also observed trying it prior to play in the previous two league games.

“He is not going to maintain wickets. When asked about his middle-order batter’s apparent affection for the wicket-keeping gloves, Pat Cummins responded confidently, “We have two very accomplished wicket keepers here on tour.”

“Now, I did mention it to him after training yesterday because I watched him bat in the nets against pacers and spinners, as well as bowl off spin and leg spin. What the heck happened? I thought you neglected to go fast bowling today. Thus, it is likely that he will be down here later, bowing quickly,” Cummins continued.

It turned out that on the eve of the World Cup semifinal in Kolkata, Labuschagne failed to show up for training. He wasn’t the only person who left the optional meeting early. Actually, the only Australian player to reach the ground for a hit was Travis Head. Even though Labuschagne, the wicketkeeper won’t be playing in this tournament’s second knockout round, it’s still unclear if Labuschagne the hitter would rush out to bat as he does in the middle order.

Australia is likely to have all 15 of its players fit for selection for once, something they haven’t had the pleasure of doing during the competition. Nevertheless, there was some late-night drama on Tuesday, November 14, when Glenn Maxwell was seen getting some preventative hamstring scans at a nearby hospital.

The only major selectorial concern that has to be addressed now that Maxwell has rejoined the team after missing out on the match against Bangladesh due to his incredible knock in Mumbai is who he will start in place of. Even though David Warner, Mitch Marsh, and Maxwell have all amassed two centuries in the competition, Travis Head made a spectacular opening hundred against New Zealand to kick off his season.

Josh Inglis is the only player without a regular run at bat, averaging 18.71 in 7 innings, whereas Steve Smith has been steadily approaching a high score, having reached 60 on two occasions. It seems sense that Labuschagne, who has averaged 35.75 at a strike-rate of 77.08, was practicing wearing the wicket-keeping gloves in case someone saw him challenge Cam Green to a stump match, as he did in Pune the previous week.

And with the rest of the team settled, it becomes very evident that it will come down to them choosing between Marcus Stoinis and Marnus Labuschagne.

On Wednesday (November 15), when asked about the puzzle, Cummins, as usual, gave no hints.

“If you think the bowling might not be as important and maybe the runs are to be had through the middle overs rather than blasting out at the end, you weigh that against, say, a middle order batter. With the all-rounders, someone like a – say Stoin (Marcus Stones) at number seven, that’s giving you valuable overs but also is a really aggressive finisher to the innings. Thus, these are matters that we must consider. I don’t believe there is a correct or incorrect response. We’ll work through that, he added, because we have a class squad of individuals here who feel like we can step in at any time.

The Australians’ assessment of the Eden Gardens surface, which has just been utilized for the England vs. Pakistan match on Saturday (November 11), will be the deciding element in that decision.

It appears to be dry and dusty thus far. At one point on Tuesday night, Cummins, Warner, Smith, and three other senior Australian players were in the middle examining the field. Additionally, Smith was observed chatting with a ground crew member. The exchange between the two appeared to be mostly conducted through hand gestures and facial expressions rather than many real words. Smith nodded his head and appeared to indicate with his fingers that the total on the pitch would be closer to 250, despite the groundstaff’s suggestion that they should anticipate a 300+ total. He then said, “The ball will turn off this surface,” before turning to go.

As it happened, on both days after arriving in Kolkata, Australia did have to contend with a lot of left-arm spin in the nets. Even Daniel Vettori, the assistant coach who primarily wangs balls at hitters, was shown rolling his arm over, most likely to get the Australians ready for their matchup with Keshav Maharaj, who has quietly had an excellent World Cup.

It’s interesting to note that Tambraiz Shamsi and Kagiso Rabada also checked the pitch at one point, with the huge fast bowler joking with his partner that there would be plenty of turn available for him. According to Bavuma, who insisted on going in with two spinners during his news conference, this was his opinion.

And it appears quite possible that he will succeed. Contrary to Smith, however, Bavuma ended up having a lighthearted conversation about the pitch with a security guard that he thought was a member of the ground crew before realizing midway through the conversation about the pitch’s problems. Returning on Wednesday, Bavuma played a significant amount of middle-order cricket while preparing for Kolkata and shadow-batting.

Like Cummins mentioned, Labuschagne accomplished everything that needed to be done, but on both training days at Eden Gardens, Stoinis was also quite busy. Prior to replacing Mitchell Starc for an intense batting session on Tuesday, he bowled a lengthy period with the bat on Monday night. Although he hasn’t exactly set the tournament on fire with the bat, he has occasionally threatened to do so.

It is improbable that numerical values will be considered, or have a significant influence on, the decision on which of the two is selected. In situations when the pitch turns slowly, Marnus Labuschagne’s ability to maneuver around the spinners and occasionally hit an angry shot may come in help, but Stoinis has demonstrated recently that he is a confident hitter of the ball against spin. Furthermore, his bowling could be an advantage while facing a formidable and well-known South African batting lineup.

However, Cummins is correct when he asserts that there are no “right or wrong” responses. If anything, it will be decided after the fact depending on how Marnus Labuschagne or Stoinis, whichever is selected, performs in the championship game. Even though Labuschagne is currently eager to be the backup keeper in the last moments, he will have to settle for playing only as a batter.