Australia’s top-ranked Test batter Marnus Labuschagne dozed off momentarily on Day 3 of the World Test Championship final at The Oval. With his teammates facing a barrage of deliveries on Friday, the right hander decided to sit back and take a nap in the pavillion.
He was caught lying flat, wearing pads and shoes as openers David Warner and Usman Khawaja walked down to build on their 173-run lead.
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“I was just resting my eyes between balls and just relaxing,” Labuschagne told SEN Cricket after the day’s play.
“I was trying to calm my nerves a little bit, you can’t watch the game all the time, I got up there and was awake pretty soon.
“I didn’t have too many rests there when Siraj banged that first one in.”
His snooze was disrupted when Mohammed Siraj struck early to dismiss Warner in just the forth over. That brought Labuschagne out into the middle.
“Marnus Labuschagne at No.3, that is one of the more extraordinary arrivals to the crease that you will see,” commentator Harsha Bhogle said with a chuckle.
“Are you awake, Marnus? Have you brushed your teeth? Have you had a coffee?”
Former Australia batter and coach Justin Langer said the loud noise created by Warner’s dismissal was Marnus’ alarm. “The appeal of the crowd, there’s the alarm! Oh, I’m up and going. I will brush my teeth, a quick espresso coffee to get me going and now he’s got to face his first ball.”
As soon as he joined the middle, Labuschagne faced his own barrage of peppered deliveries. He was struck multiple times on the gloves before reaching 41 runs from 118 balls at close. At stumps, Australia had extended their lead to 296 runs.
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