London: Marnus Labuschagne said Australia, especially the pacers, did not even bring their “B Game” in the win against England in the Ashes opener, adding that there is plenty of room for the visitors to improve as the series goes on.
Australia edged out England to win the opening Test in Birmingham by two wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
There were a number of impressive individual performances from the visitors but Marnus Labuschagne felt that the formidable Australian pace attack was not at its best.
“I don’t think we played our B-game. I think there’s a few guys that played exceptionally well, Usman (Khawaja) played really well, Nathan Lyon bowled exceptionally,” Labuschagne told ‘SEN Cricket’.
“All our fast bowlers – having seen them bowl for four or five years now – it was certainly not the best they’ve bowled, and we still only had to chase 280. There’s a lot to say there about where this team’s at and how much improvement we can see from this team, from one game to another.”
Hosts England entertained everyone with their aggressive brand of cricket under coach Brendon McCullum and skipper Ben Stokes but ended on the wrong side of the result.
“I know the English and everyone has said that they sort of felt like they won the game. It certainly didn’t feel like that (for us), but I thought they potentially played better than us at certain times.”
Labuschagne conceded that the home side’s batter put Australia under pressure.
“Potentially, the batters put us under a bit of pressure, but at the end of the day, the results are what matters, and we’ve come up with the chocolates despite having played a below-par game for this Australian cricket team.”
The world’s top-ranked Test batter had a less than ideal outing as he was out for 0 and 13 in the two innings.
“I was pretty disappointed with those two dismissals to be honest. I think they were pretty poor in the sense that I haven’t got out like that for a very long time, sort of playing two poor shots very early in my innings.
“Hopefully, that’s a good lesson to learn there and making sure I make the right changes leading into this game,” Labuschagne said.
The Australian is hopping the pitch at Lord’s is not as flat as the track in Edgbaston.
“Whatever wickets they dish up, I’m certainly happy to play on. I like wickets that have a bit more pace and bounce, and if that means a little bit more seam movement, that’s fine.
“But I think everyone would like to see the wicket with a little bit more life in it than the one at Edgbaston.
“The cricket was certainly still very entertaining, the ball spun a little bit and the way England played was certainly aggressive and attacking, which is good.
“But I think having the wicket dictate a little bit more how you have to play will be a bit more of an interesting thing to see.”
PTI