However wild your 2019 has been, Marnus Labuschagne has probably got you beat.
Labuschagne, fresh off scores of 162 and 185 in back-to-back Tests (and a 135 for Queensland only a month earlier), has rocketed up the ICC batting rankings from 100th in early 2019 to 8th in the most recent update.
Since his Ashes post-concussion sub promotion, where he battled to a last-day 59, saving the match, the 25-year-old has reeled off Ashes scores of 74, 80, 67, 11, 48 and 14 while more experienced players around him succumbed to the conditions.
According to former Australian cricket captain Allan Border, it’s hardly a surprise.
“He’s just one of those kids who loves the game and his work ethic is fantastic,” Border said Tuesday on RSN. “His improvement has been remarkable from where he was 12-18 months ago to now; he’s a different cricketer. The confidence, the way he goes about his innings now, he’s matured so much.
“Obviously being around guys like Warner and Smith has just helped him blossom. It’s a real positive for Australian cricket to see these young blokes, when given the opportunity, step up.”
While the Queenslander isn’t the first rookie Test batsman to offer hope for the future, the current No. 3 is already drawing comparisons to the man walking out of the sheds behind him: Steve Smith.
“They spend time, they talk cricket. They love it,” Test coach Justin Langer told ESPNCricInfo. “Literally all they do is talk cricket. They eat together, they have breakfast and lunch together. They have coffee together. They have dinner together talking cricket.”
The pair share an aversion to orthodox batting techniques but, according to Border, it’s the ability to mirror Smith’s staunch defence in trying conditions that is most impressive.
“It’s not all about glorious shots and smacking it through cover, sometimes you have to work really hard for your runs and that’s where Marnus has just been outstanding because he knows when to ramp it up if the conditions are in your favour and the runs are flowing nicely,” Border said.
“He can also drop anchor and play that gritty innings, like we saw from Steve Smith in particular during that Ashes series; he was quite extraordinary, and a lot of the guys have learned from that.”
Temperatures will hit 38C in Perth on Wednesday, with hotter temperatures forecast for the first four days of the first Test against New Zealand but, if Labuschagne’s form is anything to go by, he’ll be amongst the runs again.
“He’s the best new batsman in Test cricket alongside India’s Mayank Agarwal,” former England captain Michael Vaughan told Fox Sports after Labuschagne’s Gabba hundred.
“As long as he stays level, stays humble, keeps working, I think we’ll be talking to him a lot for the next few years.”
