- 3 years ago
Labuschagne on his century and Australia attempts top save fourth test
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00:00 [ Pause ]
00:12 >> Yeah, good to go.
00:13 Okay, thanks everyone.
00:14 That's Century Maker today, Manas Labashain.
00:16 Mic's on the side.
00:17 Any questions?
00:19 >> Manas, you said after the first sendings
00:28 that like whatever you've been working on throughout the tour,
00:31 it all, you know, came and worked out.
00:34 So does this kind of justify whatever you worked on
00:38 and was this better in the sense of not just the fact
00:40 that you made 100, but the way you batted
00:43 and the way the innings progressed?
00:45 >> Yeah, like I said, I felt that in the first innings,
00:50 felt really confident in my decision making.
00:52 You know, leaving the ball outside off,
00:55 being able to make really good decisions
00:57 when they did come straight, able to score runs.
01:00 And yeah, I felt confident when they did go short that, you know,
01:04 I could make really good decisions there.
01:06 So yeah, as I said, I felt like it was all sort
01:10 of coming together.
01:11 It was nice to at least get a bit of a bigger score today.
01:15 >> Hi, Manas.
01:18 I wanted to ask about what it's been
01:20 like for you facing Mark Wood.
01:21 I think he got you on the hand today,
01:23 but generally probably had more success against him
01:26 in this series than 18 months ago.
01:28 >> Yeah, a lot of my stuff I always sort
01:34 of promote back to technique.
01:36 I feel like my game's in a really good space
01:38 to be facing him slightly, you know,
01:41 the technical changes that I've made.
01:43 And it allows me to make really good decisions and get
01:46 in positions to be able to either pull, duck, leave, sway.
01:50 And I think the key to batting is to be able to have
01:53 as many options as you can for a delivery.
01:56 And I think that's what I feel at the moment.
02:00 But like I said, that's just for one test.
02:02 So we've got obviously another massive test ahead
02:06 after tomorrow.
02:07 >> Manas, how much of a believer in momentum are you
02:11 for yourself individually if you're batting?
02:13 Like obviously regardless of what happens tomorrow
02:15 at the Oval from Thursday, the series will be decided there,
02:18 whether Australia wins the series
02:19 for the first time in 22 years.
02:21 Do you sort of feel like now you've got the momentum
02:23 to score a lot of runs there as well?
02:25 >> Once again, I don't want to say anything about runs.
02:30 I just feel like my process is in a really good space.
02:32 And I feel like if I'm going to continue to stick
02:35 to the process, hopefully the runs keep coming.
02:38 And I do feel like for me personally, my series
02:41 with my batting is built, you know, sort of from Edgbaston
02:45 where it was a bit of a rabble.
02:47 And then to Lords, to Headingley, to today.
02:52 And so it's sort of trending in the right direction.
02:54 But you've just got to make sure you keep sticking
02:57 to the process.
02:58 >> Just to get back to the sort of momentum question,
03:03 which was what I was going to ask too.
03:04 I mean, it feels like England have the momentum.
03:08 It feels like they have the psychological advantage
03:11 over you looking at those sort of incidents
03:13 in the field day two and three.
03:15 Is that correct?
03:16 Does it become a psychological battle?
03:17 Do you feel sort of under siege from England?
03:20 >> Look, you've got to take credit.
03:22 They really put the pressure on us.
03:24 You know, Zac chanced his arm
03:27 and he played an unbelievable knock.
03:30 And we did struggle to sort of keep a lid on it and bring,
03:35 you know, yeah, so there was pressure on us.
03:38 In terms of does that carry over into the next test, I mean,
03:44 we lost at Headingley last time and then won at Manchester.
03:46 And if there was ever a time that momentum meant anything,
03:49 it was after being very close to winning
03:53 and then getting it snatched away and it felt
03:56 like England had all the momentum.
03:57 But the reality is it's going to come down to the Oval
04:01 and which team plays better.
04:03 If we play like we did at Lords,
04:06 we put a pretty comprehensive performance together.
04:09 You know, I think that's going to be the difference.
04:12 It's not going to be about what's been or what's gone.
04:15 It's going to be about what's to come.
04:19 - Man, I was just wondering when you brought the,
04:20 when they brought the new, the replacement ball out there
04:23 and it looked like you wanted to have a look at it.
04:25 What happened there?
04:26 And were you getting a few words from Ben Stokes about it?
04:28 - Yeah, they weren't happy.
04:29 They weren't happy that I wanted to have a look at the ball.
04:32 But I just wanted to have a look at the ball
04:35 because in this country, it's pretty clear.
04:37 If you look at the ball once,
04:38 you can pretty much tell straight away what it's going to do.
04:41 I looked at the ball and I was like, well, this is going to swing.
04:43 And I threw it back.
04:45 And yeah, they were obviously not very happy with that.
04:48 But I said, I said it to Ben out there.
04:50 I said, why do you want to look at the ball?
04:52 He asked me and I said, to see if it's going to swing.
04:56 And Jimmy Anderson went first boy, bowled to me, big in swing.
04:58 And so I think it just helps you prepare.
05:01 I mean, you know what you're facing.
05:03 It's not like I've, I've been out there with a deteriorating ball
05:06 that I know what it's doing.
05:08 The ball before was reversing slightly.
05:11 So it's a brand new ball and it's not a brand new ball.
05:15 It's a, it's a different type of ball.
05:16 And it can do anything.
05:18 So do you think that sums you up as a player in terms of your,
05:21 well, no, just in terms of you're willing to go to the little 1%.
05:23 It isn't always going to do that, that extra bit.
05:26 And then in the long run, you will outgrind others for those, you know,
05:29 with those sorts of gestures, I suppose.
05:31 I hope so.
05:32 I think it's just being meticulous.
05:33 I mean, for me, it was pretty common sense.
05:35 Like, why would I not want to have a look at the ball,
05:37 especially in England, overcast conditions?
05:40 You know, if the ball looked like the ball that they had before,
05:43 then I could go, well, it's probably not going to do much.
05:46 But you could see, feel it straight away on the bat.
05:48 Harder ball, seam was a little bit bigger and it swung straight away.
05:52 - Manus, what was the sort of feeling like this morning when you arrived?
06:00 Obviously you had the chance to go out and score some runs
06:02 and we know how much you like batting,
06:03 but Josh said yesterday he'd be quite happy to see it rain all day effectively.
06:08 What was that like for you, that wait this morning?
06:10 And what do you think about tomorrow as well?
06:13 Happy to see it rain.
06:15 - Well, as a player, you've got to be prepared to play.
06:17 And I think we were today.
06:18 I think you saw, we took the game on.
06:19 We knew what the task we had.
06:23 We knew it wasn't going to be necessarily a massively long day,
06:27 but we had to be on for that two-hour stint that we did get.
06:31 And for us now, it's about retaining the ashes.
06:33 This is what it comes down to.
06:34 Whatever time we have left tomorrow,
06:37 there's only one option, which is bat out the day.
06:40 And the rain's going to play its part,
06:42 but I certainly think there'll be some sort of play in tomorrow.
06:45 - If there's no rain at all tomorrow, some sort of freak happens,
06:49 are you discounting the win completely?
06:51 You kind of suggested that.
06:52 - Like, as in get a lead?
06:56 - Yeah.
06:57 - And then, what do you mean?
06:59 - Well, can you see a situation where Australia declare tomorrow
07:03 and England have said in the past?
07:05 - No. No chance, zero.
07:07 Like, as in get ahead.
07:10 So what are we, 60 behind?
07:12 60 behind.
07:14 I mean, if Mitch gets going, maybe.
07:16 If Mitch and Greenie put on an absolute,
07:18 unbelievable partnership.
07:19 But once again, I think we're just going to let it play out
07:22 and get bowled out when we do.
07:24 And then I don't think we're going to give England a sniff.
07:26 I think that's exactly what they would like.
07:28 Sorry, mate.
07:31 I just had a couple more questions.
07:34 - It's all good.
07:34 - Just on Mitchell Marsh,
07:37 obviously a really important partnership
07:39 that you've had with him there.
07:40 Has he surprised even you guys
07:42 with how accomplished he's looked back at Test Level?
07:45 - I think until you do it in Test Level,
07:51 it gives you that confidence.
07:53 But seeing him bat, even in the one days,
07:56 seeing him bat in the nets
07:58 and the confidence he has in his game at the moment,
08:00 I definitely had no doubt when he was going to come in,
08:03 the way he was going to play, his method,
08:05 but also the confidence that he had in his own game.
08:08 And I think you can see that with the way he's playing.
08:10 He's got so much trust in the way he's playing.
08:14 And I think when it is like that,
08:16 it makes you a dangerous player.
08:19 - Can I just ask conversely with Cameron Green,
08:21 it looks like that fluency isn't quite there
08:24 that he's had in previous series.
08:25 What are you kind of seeing from him?
08:27 Have you spoken to him about that kind of stuff?
08:30 - Yeah, Green's an interesting one
08:32 because he's actually,
08:34 I've seen Green play some unbelievable knocks.
08:38 I think he's got two double hundreds against us
08:40 in first class cricket at the Gabba.
08:43 We pretty much couldn't get him out.
08:44 We literally tried everything under the sun.
08:48 But he's definitely, in a sense, he's got a formula.
08:52 He sticks to his method where Mitch is probably
08:57 just a bit more fluent and aggressive sort of flowing player
09:00 at the start of his innings,
09:02 where Cameron's probably more of a steady build
09:04 type of innings.
09:07 And like I said, he's still young.
09:09 He's still learning his trade.
09:10 And this is the first time in these conditions,
09:13 obviously with the IPL,
09:15 there wasn't heaps of time to adjust,
09:18 but I think he's doing a good job.
09:20 And I think tomorrow is gonna be
09:22 the perfect scenario for him.
09:25 - A couple left here.
09:27 We've got Mel down here.
09:28 And we'll finish up with Rambo.
09:30 - Marlis.
09:31 - His name is not Marlis.
09:32 - Neither is mine.
09:32 (laughing)
09:35 - Just wondering, obviously we've got a bit to go
09:37 in this test and then another test to come,
09:39 but having played against England,
09:43 as you have in the past few tests,
09:46 do you think Australia will play any
09:50 or take anything from it going forward beyond this series?
09:53 - Absolutely.
09:56 I think we'd be remiss to not learn from
09:59 the last four games and then implement those things
10:02 for the Oval Test.
10:03 I think that's the great part about a five test series
10:08 is that you get so much information.
10:10 Like a two test match series,
10:13 you're sort of coming off the preparation
10:15 and the statistics you have before the series.
10:18 But with a five test match series,
10:20 there's so much information in the four games
10:23 that it comes to this last test where
10:26 you can be very planned for each single player.
10:28 You can be prepared to work on match-ups,
10:33 all those sorts of things you can implement
10:35 in a five test match series.
10:38 - What about the style?
10:40 The style of the game?
10:41 - Oh, their style?
10:43 Are we gonna implement that ourselves?
10:45 - Take stuff from it?
10:47 - Well, I think the benefit I've seen with England
10:51 is that they haven't just played one style.
10:53 I think that's what's made them good,
10:55 especially the last match.
10:57 I think they've adopted different styles,
11:00 they've taken the game on when it was time to take it on.
11:03 They've sat back.
11:04 So I think it's just, for us,
11:07 we've got plenty of experience
11:09 and we're just gonna allow the players
11:11 to assess circumstances and play accordingly.
11:14 - Can I just come back to that point
11:17 where the ball got changed?
11:18 Were you surprised that the umpires deemed it
11:19 to be too dark for the quick to operate?
11:22 'Cause obviously they wanted to bring Mark Wood
11:23 onto that stage.
11:24 And did you see that as your chance
11:25 to put a dent in the margin on the deficit
11:28 pretty quickly with the spinners on?
11:31 - Yeah, I mean, the thing with the light,
11:34 it's completely out of the hands of the players.
11:37 It's obviously we're playing under light so much now
11:40 that you sometimes forget how dark it is
11:43 because the artificial light is so pronounced.
11:45 Pronounced, is that the right word?
11:48 - Pronounced. - Pronounced.
11:49 - Pronounced.
11:50 Yeah, so the artificial light is so pronounced.
11:52 And, you know, facing a 150K bowler
11:56 in pretty dark conditions,
11:58 probably not the best result if you're a batter.
12:02 But when they did have to bowl spin,
12:04 I was obviously in England's court there
12:05 to go off the field or keep bowling spin.
12:08 And, you know, having two spinners going on,
12:11 I thought it was an opportunity for us
12:13 to put a little bit of pressure back on them.
12:15 Obviously, Joe getting me out there at the end
12:17 is not the ideal finish for us.
12:20 But I think one for, I think, almost 100 in that session.
12:25 Made a bit of a dent in the deficit
12:27 and we're not too far away from sort of getting past
12:29 that 60 run lead.
12:31 - Last one, CMU.
12:32 - And Mar, just back to your century.
12:33 I know, you know, you are team first focus,
12:35 but just on an individual level for that,
12:37 England's obviously somewhere that carries a lot of weight
12:39 in Australian cricket.
12:39 How does it feel to post a ton like that here?
12:42 - Yeah, a bit of sweet,
12:45 just 'cause of the circumstance of the match.
12:47 You know, how important that score is,
12:50 is yet to be seen.
12:52 So if we end up, you know, saving the match,
12:55 then it'll be a pretty good moment.
12:58 But until then, it's sort of sitting on the edge.
13:01 It's always a privilege to score a Test 100.
13:05 It doesn't happen that often.
13:06 And I think you have to recognise that.
13:09 It is special, but currently sitting here,
13:12 it's still a bit bittersweet,
13:14 just with the circumstance of the game.
13:16 - Thanks, everyone.
13:18 - Thank you.
13:18 - Thanks.
13:19 (silence)
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13:30 [ Silence ]
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