World cricket has a new number-one Test batsman, with Australia’s Marnus Labuschagne overtaking English skipper Joe Root on the ICC’s Test Batting Rankings thanks to his Adelaide heroics.
Labuschagne was ranked fourth in the world coming into this summer’s Ashes, behind Root, New Zealand’s Kane Williamson and teammate Steve Smith, but his 228 runs in four innings has helped him overtake the trio and earn world number-one honours. Root has managed a pair of fifties thus far but is still in search of his elusive maiden Test match century in Australia.
Labuschagne made his Test debut in Dubai in late-2018 and has enjoyed a meteoric rise from maligned all-rounder to elite top-order batsman. He has since appeared in 20 Tests and has hit 2,113 runs at an average of 62.14. The 27-year-old has already etched his name in a myriad of record-books, with his best years potentially still to come. He has hit the most fifties through 20 matches in Test history, holds the second-highest average of all players with at least 2,000 runs (behind Sir Donald Bradman), and holds the third- highest home average ever.
Labuschagne is not the only Australian batsman, however, with his name high up in the ICC’s Test Batting Rankings. For the first time since 2007, four Australian batsmen sit in the top 10 – Labuschagne (1st), Smith (3rd), David Warner (6th) and Travis Head (10th). Greats Ricky Ponting, Michael Hussey, Matthew Hayden and Michael Clarke were the last Australian quartet to accomplish the feat.
The Australians find themselves up 2-0 in the series, with an opportunity to clinch a series victory in Melbourne. England have not won a Test match in Australia for over 4,000 days and have looked far from convincing this series.
