“I love this venue,” Labuschagne mentioned. “I love playing in Perth because the conditions are so similar to Brisbane. And I’ve had some good success in Brisbane so it’s really nice to be able to come to a ground where the characteristics of the wicket are very similar.”
Having damaged his abroad century duck in Sri Lanka in his final Test match in Galle in July, Labuschagne slipped again into the rhythms of Test cricket in Australia with ease.
He negotiated a difficult morning session, leaving the ball effectively and absorbing stress because the West Indies quicks examined him on each the back and front foot. Having performed the exhausting yards, he cashed in later within the day as West Indies erred full and extensive and he was capable of decide them off.
“Growing up playing a lot on the Gabba really helps with that because you know there’s light at the end of the tunnel,” Labuschagne mentioned. “So you know you’ve got to put in the hard work early. Knowing the conditions, obviously playing in Brisbane with the bouncy conditions, certainly helps.
“You simply let the ball go. You perceive the sport, the tempo is not as quick as different venues. You’re not hitting as many balls. You’re letting a number of balls go. So all these issues actually helped. And then to have the ability to then come out after lunch and after tea and be capable to put the stress on, they tried to amend their shorter size they usually tried to bowl a bit fuller which created a couple of extra scoring choices for us.”
Labuschagne’s innings wasn’t without luck. He nicked twice through the slips, with Jason Holder failing to lay a hand on one while the other flew wide of the cordon at a catchable height, and also edged Kraigg Brathwaite onto keeper Joshua Da Silva’s knee with the ball ballooning over slip’s head. He could have been caught at deep point late in the day with debutant Tagenarine Chanderpaul misjudging the flight in the shadows.
Luck aside, Labuschagne was pleased to iron out some of the kinks that plagued him late in last year’s Ashes series at home where England’s Mark Wood caused him some problems fending outside off stump.
“I actually checked out a number of that stuff from final summer time,” Labuschagne said. “It’s feeling alright. I’ve actually felt higher. But it is good to be scoring runs if you’re not completely feeling 100%. Certainly my stance might be extra closed off I feel from the place it was final summer time.
“I’m probably not as rigid as I was last summer. I feel like I’m a little bit more relaxed in my hands. So I think that’s helping me on that short ball and that back-foot punch, so I don’t really get stuck and then start fending the ball away from my face.”
Labuschagne is loading up so as to add extra to his tally tomorrow with a second Test double-century inside attain.
“Whenever you’re not out overnight on 150 the next stop is 200,” he mentioned. “So it’s just going to be for me tomorrow if I’m able to stick to the process for long enough. If I do, I’m sure I’ll get there. But put that out of your mind, you’ve got to take it ball by ball and if the 200 does come that’s great, but more importantly, I’m just trying to get as many runs as we can in this first innings and put the pressure on the West Indies.”