"Welcome to my first 35 Tests mate" - Mitchell Marsh's message to Marnus Labuschagne amidst poor run of form

Australian all-rounder Mitchell Marsh has backed struggling batter Marnus Labuschagne to soon regain form by citing his first few Tests as an example.

After an inconsistent start to his Test career, Marsh has been in an excellent vein of form. Contrastingly, Labuschagne started his Test career with a bang before an alarming dip in form.

The 29-year-old averaged in the high 50s from 2019 to 2022 before his slump from the start of 2023.

Labuschagne has scored only a solitary century in his last 17 Tests, and the dip has been even more startling recently, with the batter averaging 4.40 in his previous three outings.

When asked about Labuschagne's horrific form in a conversation with SEN WA Breakfast, Marsh said:

"I said to him, ‘Welcome to my first 35 Tests mate, that was me. No, look, he's been an incredible player for us, and he will be for a long time to come. I think the good thing about our team is that we've always found a way to keep winning. You know, guys' form goes up and down, but he's an incredible player. He's an integral part of our team and there's no doubt he'll be in the runs soon."

Despite Labuschagne's dismal form, Australia have won five of the six Tests in the summer, coming off their World Test Championship (WTC) title and drawn Ashes series in England last year.

The star batter still boasts impressive overall Test numbers, with an average of almost 50 in 49 games.

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"Obviously ‘Greeny’ is a long-term prospect for the Australian cricket team" - Mitchell Marsh

Green and Marsh have lent incredible balance to the Australian Test side.

Mitchell Marsh hailed batting all-rounder Cameron Green as a long-term prospect at No. 4 for Australia in the Test setup.

With the retirement of David Warner after the home series against Pakistan, veteran batter Steve Smith moved up the order to open the batting, allowing Green to bat at No. 4. While the initial few games saw mixed results, the move paid dividends in Australia's opening Test win against New Zealand in the ongoing series.

Green scored a majestic 174* on a treacherous Wellington wicket to help Australia post a massive 383 and eventually win the game by 172 runs.

"I think we've seen a lot of talent in ‘Greeny’ for a long period of time. It presents a new challenge for ‘Smithy’ and for someone who's achieved so much in the game, I think it's going to be really positive for him and for the team. Obviously ‘Greeny’ is a long-term prospect for the Australian cricket team, and we've seen him score all of his runs playing for Western Australia batting at number fou," said Marsh.

"We know that he's capable of doing that and we've got to invest time in guys like him and allow him to fail in this environment. The batter you fail more than you succeed. But ultimately for the in the long run for Australian cricket, he'll be a great number four for us. He's a good team man, he's a great young kid and as we all know, he's got a huge future," he added.

Since making his debut in 2020, Green has played 27 Tests, scoring 1,347 runs at an average of 37.41 with two centuries and six half-centuries.

Meanwhile, Smith is yet to find his groove as a Test opener, averaging under 38 in three games.