Stats: Highest leave percentages in a Test series in the last ten years

Marnus Labuschagne has shown a great level of composure in the ongoing Ashes between England and Australia. The 25-year-old had a massive task at hand as he was drafted in as a replacement of Steve Smith, who was ruled out midway through the second Test at the iconic Lord’s. Smith was hit around the neck by a Jofra Archer bouncer and Labuschagne came in as a concussion replacement.

The youngster’s first assignment was on Day five of the game when the Aussies had to play out the overs in order to evade a defeat at the Home of Cricket. At the start, he was hit on the helmet by Archer, but that didn’t ruffle him by any means. The youngster went on to score 59 priceless runs and gave a good account of himself. His knock came after the visitors lost a couple of early wickets.

Labuschagne didn’t let his team down even in the third Test at the Headingley in Leeds. The batsman backed up his Lord’s half-centuries with a couple of more fifties under trying conditions. Smith has already recovered from his concussion and is likely to make his comeback in the fourth Test at the Old Trafford in Manchester. After how he performed, it will be very tough to bench Labuschagne.

Marnus’ exemplification of patience

In the meantime, Marnus has made his way into a unique list, which mostly belongs to batsmen with a tremendous level of mental strength. The list is regarding the highest percentage of leaves by a batsman in a Test series in the last 10 years. Marnus is third on the list with a percentage of 35.1, leaving alone 146 off the 416 balls he has faced. Murali Vijay tops the ladder with a 38.3 percentage.

In a generation of slam bam cricket, Marnus has managed to not get carried away by the adrenaline rush. He is only 0.2 per cent behind MS Dhoni, who is second with 35.3 against England itself. If he plays the penultimate Ashes Test then he may well surpass the former Indian Test cricketer. Joe Burns and Cheteshwar Pujara are fourth and fifth on the list with 34.9 and 31.8 respectively.

Have a look at the stats

(Stats updated till 25th August 2019, ESPN Cricinfo)