Potential Ashes debutant Labuschagne confident in all-round ability

Marnus Labuschagne is confident in his ability to make an impact with bat and ball for Australia after earning a debut Ashes call-up.

The all-rounder was selected as part of the 17-man touring squad for the five-match series with England, which begins on Thursday at Edgbaston.

Labuschagne has enjoyed a stunning season for Glamorgan in County Championship Division Two. He leads the competition with 1,114 runs at an average of 65.52 with five hundreds and five half-centuries.

A leg-spinner, Labuschagne has also taken 19 wickets for Glamorgan and, though he is not quite sure where he will be asked to bat, he has little doubt he can deliver what is asked of him.

"I'm not sure where I'll be batting if I'm playing," Labuschagne said. "Wherever it is I'll be able to fill that role and at times I'll be called on to bowl, which is great because I've been doing that the whole summer here in county cricket, it's been a good opportunity to get some overs under my belt."

Labuschagne scored just 47 runs across two innings in a warm-up match between Australia and Australia A in which he was asked to bowl only one over.

Asked if he was confident he would make the squad after that outing, he replied: "I think me personally being here the whole summer, I obviously scored some runs and was really happy with where my game was at that stage.

"For me, coming into that game it was about really trusting what I've been doing the whole season and trusting my preparation and then just going out and enjoying it, whichever way it was swung was the way it was and it was obviously great to be on this end."

Follow Sportskeeda for all the updates on Ashes live score, schedule, news, results, Ashes Schedule 2019, most runs, most wickets and fantasy tips.

Published 29 Jul 2019, 15:20 IST