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Star batter Marnus Labuschagne announced his readiness for the Boxing Day Test despite suffering a finger injury during Australia's 360-run victory over Pakistan in the first Test of the series on December 17.
On Day 3 of the first Test, Pakistan's debutant Khurram Shahzad struck the right-handed batter on his right-hand finger with a rising delivery. Labuschagne promptly sought medical help but returned to bat after a few minutes.
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"The finger is fine, there's no break. It hit me more on the knuckle side and sort of just jammed up my hand. It just got me in a bit of an awkward spot. There was no padding on that side of the glove, so it just didn't feel that good. I was a bit nervous. I've had a lot of finger blows, but it just felt a bit different. It was a little bit sore overnight," Labuschagne said as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.
Labuschagne wasn't the only player hit while batting; Usman Khawaja and Steven Smith also received blows to their arms. Mitchell Marsh, the recipient of the ‘Man of the Match’ award, experienced two blows to his helmet on Day 4.
"Uz (Khawaja) seems fine and Steve is all good. It was brutal there at the end with the cracks opening up. We're all used to the bounce, played a lot here and some of us have good records in Perth. But no one likes batting when it's up and down [and] sharp steep bounce on a fast wicket. That's not your cup of tea, but you just have to find a way when it's like that," Labuschagne said.
The iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) is set to host the second Test on December 16. Labuschagne, who has participated in 39 consecutive Test matches, is optimistic that the pitch will offer opportunities for the batters.
"The MCG wicket has changed so much over the last four years," he said. "It's become probably very much like Adelaide with a bit of seam and swing...quite a bit of grass. Probably will be a little bit of a different challenge to this wicket, which was more bounce," Labuschagne added.
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