62 Wednesday February 23 2022 | the timesSportCricket
Market Rasen
Going: heavy (soft in places)
1.00 (2m 125yd, hdle) 1, Fleurman (Aidan
Coleman, 5-4 fav); 2, Krypton Gold (9-2);
3, Alazwar (2-1). 7 ran. NR: Glen Again.
7 Kl, 4Ol. O Murphy.
1.35 (2m 4f 139yd, hdle) 1, Desaray Girl (Emma
Smith-Chaston, 5-4 fav); 2, Merry Mistress
(9-4); 3, Dazzling Glory (20-1). 5 ran.
NR: Malaita. Nk, 4Ol. Micky Hammond.
2.10 (2m 125yd, hdle) 1, Marsh Wren
(C Gethings, 2-1); 2, Gentle Connections (4-1);
3, Ile De Jersey (5-6 fav). 5 ran. NR: Rio Silva.
12l, 13l. S Edmunds.
2.45 (2m 125yd, hdle) 1, Petit Tonnerre (JonjoO’Neill Jr., 4-5 fav); 2, Presuming Ed (5-4);
3, Serious Ego (12-1). 2Kl, 3l. Jonjo O’Neill.
3.20 (2m 3f 34yd, ch) 1, Edmond Dantes
(B Hughes, 11-2); 2, Radetzky March (8-15 fav);
3, Getaway North (10-1). 6 ran. 2Ol, 30l. Ruth
Jefferson.
3.55 (2m 7f 191yd, ch) 1, Felton Bellevue
(Harry Bannister, 3-1 jt-fav); 2, Aire Valley Lad
(15-2); 3, Toad (50-1). 7 ran. NR: Alright Chief,
Glacier Fox. 5l, 13l. B I Case.
4.30 (2m 125yd, flat) 1, Spanish Present
(B Hughes, 15-8 fav); 2, Shantou’s
Melody (10-3); 3, Erigmoor (5-1). 7 ran.
NR: Grand Mario. 3Ol, 1Ol. M Keighley.
Placepot: £46.50. Quadpot: £12.50.Southwell
Going: standard / slow
5.00 (4f 214yd) 1, Moveonup (Molly Gunn,
28-1); 2, Brandy Station (6-1); 3, Cool Spirit
(6-1). 11 ran. Kl, 1Nl. Miss Gay Kelleway.
5.30 (4f 214yd) 1, Desert Lime (Hollie Doyle,
4-9 fav); 2, Scale Force (9-4); 3, Elektronic
(10-1). NR: Storm Over. Ol, 12l. G Boughey.
6.00 (4f 214yd) 1, Digital (K Stott, 2-1); 2, Zarzyni
(7-4 fav); 3, Lihou (8-1). 6 ran. 1l, 2l. K A Ryan.
6.30 (1m 6f 21yd) 1, Batocchi (Cam Hardie,
5-4 fav); 2, Kitten’s Dream (10-1); 3, Chef De
Troupe (200-1). 12 ran. Ol, 2Nl. R Menzies.
7.00 (1m 13yd) 1, Sid’s Annie (David Probert,10-3); 2, Copper Mountain (6-4 fav); 3, Roamin
In Gloamin (8-1). 6 ran. NR: Griffin Park. 2Nl, hd.
M D I Usher.
7.30 (7f 14yd) 1, Shorts On (Daniel Muscutt,
5-1); 2, Lady Lou (9-4 jt-fav); 3, Pluperfect
(9-2). 8 ran. NR: Copper Mountain, Sequeira
Lady. Nk, nk. P S McEntee.
8.00 (7f 14yd) 1, Gidwa (David Probert, 7-2); 2,
Kiritimati Island (3-1 fav); 3, Ringo Starlight (9-1).
9 ran. NR: Almodovar Del Rio. Nk, Kl. K P De Foy.
Placepot: £28.70. Quadpot: £3.90.
Taunton
Going: good to soft
1.20 (2m 3f 1yd, hdle) 1, Novus Aditus (KierenBuckley, 14-1); 2, Danzini (40-1); 3,
Wetanwindy (28-1). ; 4, Hot In The City (20-1).
16 ran. NR: Get Supreme. Sh hd, 1Ol. N J Hawke.
1.55 (2m 3f 1yd, hdle) 1, Lady Adare (J J Burke,
1-4 fav); 2, Peerless Beauty (4-1); 3, Lady
Wilberry (40-1). 7 ran. NR: Plenty Of Time. 16l,
2 Ol. H Fry.
2.30 (2m 104yd, hdle) 1, Inca De Lafayette (H
Cobden, 11-4); 2, Moorland Rambler (12-1); 3,
Jeremy The Jinn (5-6 fav). 14 ran. 4Kl, nk. P F
Nicholls.
3.05 (2m 7f 3yd, ch) 1, Some Detail (Kieren
Buckley, 9-4 fav); 2, Esprit De Somoza (8-1); 3,
Larkbarrow Lad (7-1). 9 ran. NR: Brianstorm.
1 Nl, 1Ol. N J Hawke.3.40 (2m 104yd, hdle) 1, Ajero (David Bass, 11-
4); 2, Fontana Ellissi (9-4 fav); 3, Zambezi Fix
(7-1). 6 ran. NR: Mack The Man,
Restandbethankful. Kl, 1Kl. K C Bailey.
4.15 (2m 5f 150yd, ch) 1, Queen Of The Court
(Archie Bellamy, 2-1 fav); 2, Furkash (11-2); 3,
Doyannie (10-3). 9 ran. NR: Geordie
Washington. Hd, 4Kl. J G Cann.
4.50 (2m 7f 198yd, hdle) 1, Flying Nun (Thomas
Bellamy, 6-1); 2, Sindabella (9-1); 3, White Hart
Lady (7-1). 14 ran. NR: Bees And Honey, Leave
My Alone, Mizz Moondance. Nk, 2N. Miss E C
Lavelle.
Placepot: £129.30.
Quadpot: £3.30.Yesterday’s racing results
At what was then the National
Academy in Loughborough, to
prepare players for batting in India,
Thorpe would use pimpled rubber
discs and cut-up pieces of carpet,
gluing elastic bands on to cricket balls
to create similarly volatile conditions
to those Labuschagne is trying to
produce. As a player who was
outstanding against spin, Thorpe
would often deliberately scratch net
surfaces with his studs in an effort to
replicate the dustbowls he might
encounter in Asia.Labuschagne
demonstrates in
a Twitter video
how he refines
his technique
using the
“Marnus mat”,
which can make
a tennis ball
bounce and spin
unpredictably.
James, right,
gained an insight
into the Australia
player’s more
conventional
practice methods
during a session
in the Glamorgan
nets last summerI
f only Sir Donald Bradman had
been able to post videos of his
famous batting practice sessions
as a youngster, using a stump, a
golf ball and the base of the
water tank at his home. Backyard
cricket has always been critical to
most Australian players’ formative
years in learning the game, but now
we have the world’s No 1 Test
batsman, Marnus Labuschagne, at the
age of 27, showing us that you are
never too old to be practising at home
and using innovative methods.
In a brilliant video posted on
Twitter, Labuschagne has been
showing the world how he is
preparing for Australia’s forthcoming
tour to Pakistan, their first visit to the
country for 24 years. In particular he
has been readying himself for some
raging turn and variable bounce.
Whether the pitches for the three
Tests, in Rawalpindi, Karachi and
Lahore, produce such conditions is
anybody’s guess — Pakistan’s fast-
bowling resources are well stocked —
but if they do, Labuschagne will be
ready. Australia also travel to Sri
Lanka this year and probably India in
early 2023, so there is long-term
thinking in this too.
Few players in the history of the
game have been as enthusiastic about
it as Labuschagne. He is the ultimate
cricket “badger,” something that
became apparent to me last year
when I visited Glamorgan to watch
him bat in the nets for a mere two
hours — he had a sore wrist, or else
he would have been there much
longer. When he and his Queensland
and Glamorgan team-mate, Michael
Neser, were forced to isolate because
of Covid-19 in the summer, it was
little surprise when Labuschagne
posted a video of them practising
together at their Cardiff home, with
Neser bowling from outside to
Labuschagne inside.
Labuschagne obviously did not
have what is now sure to be called the
“Marnus mat” then, but you can
expect increased sales of the 40kg
black rubber surface that
Labuschagne bought from a local
hardware store. On the mat on his
back balcony, Labuschagne has taped
aluminium and metal sheets to create
unpredictability for the tennis ball
that has black electrical tape around
it. If the ball hits the metal it will skid
on; if it hits the rubber mat it will
probably turn and bounce. To makethings even harder, Labuschagne is
using a bat that is half the width of a
normal one, demanding that he
watches the ball even more closely
than usual. As he observes, it is often
the delivery that skids on that takes
the wicket, with the batter thinking
about the balls that have turned
lavishly (but often do not take
wickets). It is a mental battle as much
as a physical one.
Originally Labuschagne had bigger
sheets of aluminium and metal on his
mat, but Steve Smith, his Australia
team-mate and close friend, advised
otherwise. “I was on the phone to
Steve,” Labuschagne said, “and he was
like, ‘Nah, nah, nah, that’s no good.
You’ve got to actually cut the pieces
up so they’re small pieces, so you
can’t really predict at all what the
wicket is going to do.’
“So I cut them up in smaller pieces,
put them around and tried to line it
up so that if one hit the aluminium or
the metal it would skid on and hit the
stumps... then one would spin. That’s
the thoughts behind it, but there’s a
lot more improvements to make on it,
that’s for sure.”
This is nothing new. Graham
Thorpe was much maligned for his
role as England’s batting coach in the
recent Ashes series but he was doing
such things ten years ago.Practising on a homemade rubber
and metal mat... it’s why he’s No 1
Marnus Labuschagne’s
dedication to his craft
has reached a new
level of ingenuity,
says Steve James
Many indoor mats used in this
country can be flipped over to
produce lots of turn on the rubber on
the other side. The Merlyn bowling
machine is widely used and can
produce extravagant turn.
Labuschagne is only really
practising his defensive method in the
video, but you can see what he is
trying to do in ensuring that he is
either right forward or right back
when playing the ball. Getting caught
“half-cock” is something too many
English players do in subcontinentalconditions. He is also trying to defend
with his bat out in front of his leg
when pushing forward, a necessity in
these days of the Decision Review
System. Playing with bat and pad
together is fraught with danger
because of the increased likelihood of
leg-before decisions.
Apparently, Labuschagne used his
mat before coming to Glamorgan in
2019, a summer in which he rose to
unexpected stardom in the Ashes.
“I did something similar with that
same mat before I went to England in
2019,” he said. “I tried to create a
wicket and a ball that nipped around
a lot but didn’t bounce, because one
of the big factors when you go to
England is it nips and swings and it
seams, but the ball sort of hits the
stumps from a shorter length.”
That went fairly well, so Australians
will be hoping that Labuschagne has
similar results as he prepares to play
in very different conditions from
those to which he is accustomed. He
has played two Tests in the United
Arab Emirates (his first two in 2018)
but all of his other 21 Tests have been
in Australia and England. He
averages a shade under 57, so his
methods seem to be serving him well
so far.
You certainly cannot fault his
dedication, curiosity or invention.CHRIS FAIRWEATHER/HUW EVANS AGENCY