Ashes 2021-22: Marnus Labuschagne's hilarious no-look appeal leaves commentators in splits

In the ongoing Sydney Test, the English batters again surrendered against the Australian bowlers, but unlike the first three games, this time the batters did show some fight and managed to save the match. Zak Crawley made 77 runs before Cameron Green dismissed him leg before. Much like the first innings, Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow tried their best to take the team over the line; however, they both failed.

During the 83rd over bowled by Pat Cummins, Australian batter Marnus Labuschagne made such a hilarious appeal for caught behind and later realized that the ball was miles away from Jos Buttler’s bat. His appeal did put some smiles on the faces of everyone despite the match being in an intense situation.

Cricket.com.au posted footage of Labuschagne’s puzzled reaction on Twitter, where he also found out that no other fielders were appealing. The tweet was made along with the following caption:

“Let’s give Labuschagne an E for Effort on that appeal.”

Here’s how the entire Marnus Labuschagne episode played out:

Let's give Labuschagne an E for Effort on that appeal 😂 #Ashes pic.twitter.com/To5SxDKPMJ

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 9, 2022

Labuschagne has been a run machine for Australia lately

Labuschagne is the leading run-scorer in the ongoing Ashes series. He has made 286 runs in four matches at an average of 47.67. He made a century in the second Test followed by a half-century in the second innings and also won the player of the match award for this performance. Australia won that match by 275 runs.

In 2021, Labuschagne made the most number of runs in Test cricket for Australia. He scored 526 runs in just five matches at an average of 65.75 and hit two centuries and four half-centuries last year. Labuschagne was at his best last year during the series against India when he made 426 runs in four matches at an average of 53.25 and was the only batter to score over 400 runs in the series.

Labuschagne achieved the number one position in ICC Men’s Test Player Rankings last year and is currently in this position with 915 rating points. His Test career is just 21 matches old in which he has made 2114 runs at an average of 60.40.