Racing
League
Rugby
Cricket
Golf
Motorsport
Combat Sports
Football
Netball
Basketball
Other Sports
Sport Nation
The three-word text Marnus sent Bharat before Test return
SEN • November 24th, 2025 8:09 pm
Marnus Labuschagne's career-defining return to form has hit the international stage, securing his first half century since Boxing Day of 2024.
Opening the batting on day one due to Usman Khawaja’s absence, Labuschagne failed to find control early, falling for just nine runs off 41 after nicking the new ball onto his own stumps.
It was day two in which Marnus’ form translated to the long format, joining Travis Head at the crease and mounting an unbeaten 51 to down the English.
Within six innings at Shield level, the Queensland number three has totalled 402 runs – including two centuries - for an average of 67, and during Saturday's frantic day of Test cricket, Marnus once again looked comfortable at the crease.
Since being dropped from the test setup in Barbados, the 31-year-old has rediscovered his confidence, and as referenced in a text sent by Labuschagne to Bharat Sundaresan over the break, Marnus' return has long been coming.
“He has looked relaxed for a while now,” Sundaresan told SEN Afternoons.
“From the time he was, funnily enough, dropped from the side in Barbados, there was this relief, where he felt, ‘the axe had finally fallen’. They couldn’t drop him again, because he had already been dropped.
“The work he has put in ever since, in just clearing his mind – it wasn’t technical for a change, maybe slightly here and there, but it was just about thinking about scoring runs again, not being too fussed about how he is looking out there in the middle. He had gone a bit too much into his shell about that.
“He started doing that in the Caribbean and then went and worked a lot with himself more than anything else in Brisbane through August. There was a message he sent me with three clips of him batting in August, and he said, ‘Brother, I’m back!’
“This is well before he started playing in the Shield and started making those hundreds. It’s just a confidence thing as well. He feels like he is back where he was when he was at his peak in 2019.
“Yes, he did get out cheaply after facing 41 balls in the first innings, but that was as an opener in a hectic period where Australia didn’t know what was happening with Usman Khawaja and he had to walk out against a charged-up Jofra Archer and Mark Wood and co.
“Yesterday, given the chance to bat at number three, and with the openers having out 50 on the board – he looked a lot more relaxed.
“He was enjoying Travis Head at the other end and then started freeing his arms as well.”
Marnus spoke post-match about his mental clarity, referencing the importance of his time away from the Test setup.
The second Test in Brisbane is set for December 4th, with ball-by-ball coverage here on SEN.
