\World No 1 Labuschagne eyes continued domination in WTC, Ashes

Leading Australian Test batter Marnus Labuschagne feels his long stint with English county side Glamorgan has helped him prepare for the challenges in the run-up to the World Test Championship final against India, starting June 7.

While some of his Aussie teammates were playing in the Indian Premier League, Labuschagne, the No.1-ranked Test batter in the world, was gearing up for the WTC final and the Ashes for the last to months playing county cricket.

The 28-year-old scored two centuries and a total of 504 runs in eight innings, and is confident of a good showing in the one-off game for Test supremacy against india, scheduled to begin at The Oval on June 7.

"I have been coming back (to country cricket) for five years now," Labuschagne was quoted as saying by ICC.

"It is just part of my normal routine of coming here. I love coming here, I love playing county cricket, I love the team at Glamorgan, I enjoy it so much otherwise I wouldn't be coming back," said Labuschagne.

The No.3 batter's decision to spend more than two months in England could have been driven by the fact that he scored only one half-century during the recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which India won 2-1 at home.

"It just helps that this year is a Test Championship Final and Ashes year so it is very helpful for leading into the series," he said.

Labuschagne added that batting at No.3 brought with it the responsibility of giving solidity to the innings by playing responsible innings.

"Naturally, anyone that is batting No.3 for Australia is going to have responsibility," Labuschagne said.

"Even in 2019 (the last time in England for Ashes) it was my responsibility, it was my job to score runs and if I didn't score runs they (Australia team management) would find someone else to do my job and I don't think that changes," he said.

"It is about finding ways to score runs and contribute to the side in as many games as I can."

Labuschagne feels that despite India winning the Border-Gavaskar series, riding on the success of their slow bowlers on spin-friendly tracks, their pace bowlers will be a potent force with the Dukes balls in the WTC final with the conditions likely to favour seam bowling.

India have included the pace quartet of Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav and Jaydev Unadkat in the squad for the WTC final, while all-rounder Shardul Thakur could also be in contention to play at The Oval.

"Two months ago we played against India, so in terms of seeing them and knowing their actions and what they do we are pretty clear on that," said Labuschagne.

"With the Dukes ball in their hand they (Indian pace bowlers) are going to be able to showcase their skills a lot more," he opined.

During the 2019 Ashes series, a lot of focus was on Labuschagne as David Warner, Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft were returning for their first Test tour since the ban imposed on them following the 2018 'Sandpaper-gate' scandal in Cape Town.

Labuschagne believes Australia will benefit from increased stability in their Ashes squad as they prepare to face England in the first Test of the series later this month.

The Australians take on England in the latest five-Test Ashes series at Edgbaston on June 12.

The series comes four years after the old rivals shared a 2-2 draw on English soil, when the Australian team was in a state of flux following the return of former captain Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft to the squad.

The trio had been banned due to their involvement in a ball-tampering scandal in South Africa in 2018 and, with those distractions behind them, Labuschagne is confident Australia will be better prepared.

"In 2019, we weren't as set on the team and there was probably a lot more questions about people coming back in," Labuschagne said.

"That was Steve, Dave and Cameron's first entry back into Test cricket, there wasn't that much stability, even with our bowlers.

"We played three or four different bowling attacks in three games, so there's a lot more clarity around our team which I think creates that consistency ... It creates the preparation instead of people playing for spots and thinking that they're vying for a position.

"Everyone knows where they sit, so we can prepare and get ourselves ready."

Labuschagne's Test career sparked to life during the 2019 series when he was introduced in the second Test at Lord's as a concussion replacement for Smith, going on to score 59 runs in a drawn match.

He helped the Australians retain the Ashes before playing a prominent role in the 4-0 series victory over the English in Australia in 2021/22.

"In 2019, I felt like I almost had to prove to people I was good enough," he said.

"For me now, it's just about making sure I do my role in the side and work out ways to score runs, it doesn't matter what the conditions are.

"Mentally I'm as hungry as ever and want us to win this series ... I really feel like we let one slip last time we were here, and hopefully we can amend that."