‘Needed to happen’: Marnus’ big Ashes admission after FIFTH ton, advice to Konstas

Marnus Labuschagne has once again boosted his chances of Ashes selection with yet another century in a glittering summer of domestic performances.

The 31-year-old, who is in contention to be picked for the upcoming Ashes series, was dismissed for 101 off 110 balls, scooping a Ryan Hadley bouncer to Jack Edwards.

Labuschagne’s latest ton comes after an impressive run of form with began with 130 against Victoria on September 17.

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He then belted 160 in a Sheffield Shield clash against Tasmania, before following that mammoth score up with 105 against Tasmania five days later in a 50-over clash.

In his next Shield innings, he scored 159 against South Australia, missing out twice in the second innings of that clash and another tie against NSW.

However, he bounced back in a big way on Monday with an impressive century to help Queensland to a competitive total, posting 9/287 at Cricket Central in Sydney.

Across his last eight innings, Labuschagne has now scored 679 runs at an average of 84.875, bouncing back after he was dropped following Australia’s World Test Championship defeat to South Africa.

While he now looks set to partner Usman Khawaja at the top of the order, it was that axing that he believes has helped him rediscover his form.

“Firstly, I think it’s something that needed to happen for me to get where I am today,” Labuschagne said to Fox Sports News.

“Because I think once you while you’re still playing and you’re in, you’re getting scrutinised, and it’s hard to get clarity on where you want your game to be and how you want to do that.

“As a player, and the way I always play is ‘okay, I’ll just keep training. I’ll keep training’ and it was just not the right plan and the right play.

”So for me, it was something that really needed to happen for me to like I said, find my best, and I said it from the start before the first game.

“I said ‘if I’m playing at my best, I don’t need to worry about anything else’.”

In response, fellow Ashes hopeful Sam Konstas posted 47 off 74 with a Benji Floros bouncer catching his edge while attempting to play a pull shot.

In his last 11 innings, Konstas has failed to score over 53 runs, with his last century coming against India A in September.

Labuschagne was certain Konstas has the ability to bounce back and be a long-term performer for his country.

“Sammy is so talented, we’ve seen that. For him it’s just he’s young. This is first class cricket. It’s not easy, especially batting at the top,” he said.

“Understanding the conditions, understanding your game and he’ll learn his game, and I feel when he really learns his game learns when to push, when to pull, when defend.

”When to use all these shots, he’s going to be a very, very good player for Australia.”

Labuschagne, meanwhile, also added to his Ashes credentials in NSW’s batting innings with a handy cameo with the ball.

From his six overs, he finished with figures of 2/26, dismissing Chris Green and Tanveer Sangha to complete a stellar performance and help Queensland to a 97-run victory.

Blues veteran Moises Henriques played a lone hand in his side’s loss, tallying 39 while Bulls seamer Benji Floros was the pick of the bowlers, finishing with four wickets.

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