It’s been a rough week for Australian Test star Marnus Labuschagne.
He was hit with a fine for excessive appealing in a Sheffield Shield match, narrowly avoiding a dissent charge for running down the wicket following a delivery that the umpire deemed not out.
A few days later he was back in action for Queensland for their next Shield game, against South Australia at Adelaide Oval.
Labuschagne had been out lbw for 8 in the Bulls’ first innings, falling to Redbacks paceman Brendan Doggett.
The pair were locked in another cat-and-mouse battle with Labuschagne at the crease for the second innings on Sunday, when he let a delivery slip past his bat that he will be regretting for a while.
A Doggett seamer bounced off the deck and flew up into Labuschagne’s groin, hitting him where every man fears to be hit.
Labuschagne – one of Australia’s leading Test batters – dropped to his knees and then rolled onto his back, clutching himself in pain.
Doggett checked in on the opposition star while Labuschagne’s batting partner, Usman Khawaja, also walked down the pitch to make sure he was OK.
Luckily, Labuschagne was able to bat on with Khawaja as the pair combined for a healthy partnership.
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