“This is gonna be my time. Time to taste the fruits and let the juices drip down my chin… I proclaim this the summer of George!”
So said the great George Costanza in the Seinfeld episode of the same name, on discovery of a three-month payout after being fired by the New York Yankees, promising to use this time for exciting new pursuits.
“I’m gonna read a book. From beginning to end. In that order,” he said, in addition to a promise to take up frolf (“Frolf, frisbee golf Jerry. Golf with a frisbee”).
It was to be a wondrous time. A time of untapped freedom to do exactly as he pleased, without fear of anything or anyone. A time where anything imaginable could happen. Within that next three months, obviously.
Australian cricket’s new cult hero Marnus Labuschagne has just completed what the summer of George was supposed to be.
This Australian Test cricket summer has been his time. And he has well and truly tasted the fruits, with the runs flowing off his bat much thicker and faster and fresher than any juice could ever have dripped down George Costanza’s chin.
Coming off what had already been an unexpectedly great Ashes series in England, Labuschagne has had an truly extraordinary home series against Pakistan and New Zealand.
Eight hundred and ninety six runs for the summer. Four centuries and three fifties.
(Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
And perhaps the best way to put context around what Labuschagne has done this summer is to look what his performances have overshadowed.
David Warner, for example, has just peeled off a 786-run summer with three centuries, one of them being his incredible unbeaten 335 in Adelaide against Pakistan.
He made 489 runs in two digs against Pakistan, and then against New Zealand he made a 19, four scores between 38 and 43, and the 111 not out in the second innings in Sydney.
But at the moment, his Adelaide triple is the only thing sticking in the memory of the average Australian fan.
Warner finished the Test season averaging 131 and it will be largely forgotten.
So too will Steve Smith’s domestic summer, which after his Ashes run fest will look like he’s horrendously out of form.
Smith finished with 254 at 36, and made just the two fifties in the first innings of the Melbourne and Sydney Tests.
And when you think about it, it’s not that long ago that an under-performing Steve Smith would’ve been cause of worry around the Australian team, such did he carry the side in England.
But this summer, and despite the fact he went past Greg Chappell on the all-time Australian runs tally, it’s almost like he’s hardly been missed at all. Which is an incredible thing to write!
So let’s break down Labuschagne’s summer.
Coming off the Ashes series where he made 59 at Lord’s as Smith’s concussion sub, Labuschagne then peeled off 74 and 80 at Headingley, 67 and 11 at Old Trafford, and 48 and 14 at the Oval, 353 runs at 50.4 was going to take some topping.
No problems. This was the summer of George.
Labuschagne went big in his maiden Test century, with 185 against Pakistan in front of family and friends in Brisbane. And then he followed it up with 162 in Adelaide.
(Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
Into the Trans-Tasman series, Labuschagne kept going, piling on 143 and 50 in Perth, 63 and 19 in Melbourne, and then the magnificent 215 and 59 in Sydney to claim the most obvious player of the series award since, well, Warner against Pakistan.
A whopping 896 runs from eight innings, to finish the summer with an incredible average of 112.
Only Ricky Ponting and Matthew Hayden scored more runs in an Australian summer, and they did it twice each. But they both required ten innings in 2003-04, and they did it in 14 innings during the seven-Test 2005-06 summer, when Australia also played the six-day Test against a Rest of the World XI.
Labuschagne’s Test record now tallies 1459 runs at an average of 63.43. And with not one red ink among his 23 innings. After looking anything but a Test number three this time last year, he now has eight fifties and four centuries, and has scored 1249 runs since August.
Meteoric doesn’t do justice to the Queensland right-hander’s sensational rise up the ICC Test batting rankings, where this time last year he was tracking well beyond a hundred but now sits at number four.
Away from what he brings to the team in terms of his batting, his energy around the team is top shelf. But that also makes him the target of so much of the inter-team sledging, which has been genuinely hilarious this season. Especially when Labuschagne is bowling.
And that’s always the sign of a happy team. When someone is copping all the ribbing within a team and appears happy to wear the target on their back, there’s few issues within.
Labuschagne is now one of the first players picked in the Australian side, and is now all set to transfer this incredible form into the one-day format, where you expect he’ll debut in India in a few weeks.
In the Seinfeld episode, the summer of George doesn’t go well at all, with Costanza becoming slobbier and lazier than he was before and ultimately ending up in hospital after falling downstairs.
But the summer of Marnus has been every bit as entertaining.
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
I agree merit is essential, you don't fill a spot for the heck of it, yet allrounder is not a luxury or essential but a preferred position. A quality all-rounder improves the opportunities for the team and the best balanced team will have an allrounder (which could be a keeper). AN allrounder provides more bowling options - increasing the chances of wickets. Also more cover for injury, roads, etc. BTW India have a guy called Jadeja, #2 allrounder in the world, certainly helping them be at #1. Australia's strong periods including this last series were because the team was so superior, not because they didn't have an allrounder. Did they need the extra batter?? no, and if one of the bowlers went down they'd be sorry they didn't have a back-up. We don't need one now, but we'll be better for having a decent one in soon.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
Only when it rained. Doesn't do that a lot here. He only ever played in 2 countries.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
I just explained that. The years between the wars didn't offer many sportsmen. The elite few were few and far between. Reputation, influence over umps and a lack of DRS doubled his average. Now, some of these arguments are serious, some have my tongue in my cheek...you work out which. But I would suggest you watch some old film of that era. You will laugh at the John Howard style bowling and you will be staggered at the weak techniques of some of his peers (the good ones were otherwise occupied). Nevertheless, you miss the point. It was made in response to those who are not impressed by Labuschagne's effort unless it is sustained and reaches Bradman's numbers. What a way to not enjoy excellence.
Graham
Roar Rookie
Certainly, with Bradman, we are talking different eras. Any comparisons are pretty trite. But I wonder if Bradman would still average 99.94 in today's game. Constantly jumping between different forms of the game, going up against a more professional opposition, having his technique picked apart on video replays looking for every tiny flaw in his game ... things can be pretty tough for the modern player.
mushi
Roar Guru
I also haven't ever heard that uncovered pitches led to more predictable batting surfaces, just about everything suggests to the contrary.
mushi
Roar Guru
Then Don Freo why is Bradman so much more statistically different to his peers if we're going to compare them to opponents?
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
Timeless tests meant they could bat forever against third rate bowling. Remember all the vibrant strapping youth weren't playing cricket...they were at war. A whole generation of fast bowlers was missed. Park cricketers and geriatrics left. Uncovered pitches meant he played on pitches baked by Australian summers. Absolute roads. 2/3 sounds like a comparison to me. Mind you, it was the opposition I was comparing.
elvis
Roar Rookie
Ah but I don't bag them when Australia don't win, as long as they are selecting to some rational method.
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
I said “Legspin doesn’t take the same toll on the body as pace”... then you said "Yes it does" then you said "It just takes a completely different toll" .. which is what I said in the first place. You got to work on your sledging mate, you said I was wrong then said I was right :happy: . Obviously there is toll on the body, but it isn't the same. He might be sore going back out to bat after some leg spin but without the same physical exhaustion and impact. Pat Howard never had the spinners on rotation, don't hear of spinners have the issues of Lillee, Cummins, Pattinson, et al. And I'm grateful for the encouragement you give me. Your association of me with a bible constantly encourages me to aim high and keep my eye on the prize. BTW if I ever miss replying to you, forgive me - your posts actually never come up on my notifications feed. Do you have a magic silent profile? I only run across your posts by accident.... or miracle??
Diamond Jackie
Roar Rookie
You are a hard marker indeed Elvis!
Chop
Roar Guru
WTF Don, Uncovered pitches, timeless tests, no helmets. Firstly it's silly to compare between eras Secondly his average is only 2/3 of Bradman's.
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
That it does. And never said I was perfect. BTW, good to see you doing some quality reading. :thumbup:
Brett McKay
Expert
No 'Not outs', Micko..
Micko
Roar Rookie
"And with not one red ink among his 23 innings"...what does this imply, no ducks?
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
Of course it sounds a bit Scrooge-like not to give them credit. But they picked a whole bunch of people over time who didn’t work out - Harris, Bancroft, the Marshes - and chopped and changed with others, eg Burns and Ferguson. So when one works out, I’m not necessarily convinced they saw something, they just got lucky that someone they picked found a way to lift his performance by a margin that probably no one else in the history of cricket has achieved. If you are only averaging 32 in the Shield over 5 years, you aren’t really showing much at all. Labuschagne himself changed that.
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
Interesting Brett. Hughes was, sadly, someone who never seemed quite on track to fulfil his potential at the Test level.
elvis
Roar Rookie
Well it is true, how many number 3s with mediocre first class records have been tried and discarded over the last decade? 10? It wasn't selection brilliance, it was Marnus grabbing his second chance with both hands. A bit like the coach himself.
Phil
Guest
Yes,Brett,agree with you about Burns.He looks OK to me and those couple of sixes he hit in the 2nd innings showed he was just being a team man and going for quick runs.It would have been very easy for him to play for himself at that stage.
Brett McKay
Expert
Right... :roll:
elvis
Roar Rookie
No it's not. I bet they didn't see that coming in a million years.