Border-Gavaskar series: David Warner tells Marnus Labuschagne to ignore the ‘noise’ over his criticism

David Warner has poured more fuel on the fire in his ongoing war of words with Marnus Labuschagne after the batter hit back at his former teammate’s comments that his batting form was still poor despite his stoic half-century against India in the second Test.

Warner was critical of Labuschagne’s ability to hit the ball through gully safely after he was caught there in Adelaide, and overnight the Queenslander responded to that specific criticism.

Then, in a bizarre response to what is shaping up as a potential feud between a former great and an under-pressure star, Warner told Labuschagne to ignore the “noise” in the media during the pre-match coverage, despite him being the main creator of it.

“Check how many times I’ve been caught at gully. Because apparently I get out there every week,” Labuschagne told News Corp.

“I’ve looked back and I think I can only remember getting caught at gully twice. So I might have to have a look at Bull’s comment there. But like I said, everyone’s here to write newspapers, write articles.”

“It’s a two-edged sword. Week before, I wasn’t playing enough shots, and then this week, people are unhappy because you’re playing too many shots. So at the end of the day, I’m not here to please everyone. I’m here to win games for Australia.”

Warner’s critique, which has also included the entire top six this week, appears to have stung Labuschagne, who defended his playing style as he looks for a big innings on his home deck at the Gabba this weekend.

“I’m watching the game, and I’m trying to play pretty naturally,” Labuschagne said.

“I mean, hitting a cut shot, the ball was there. It was a little bit short, and I tried to hit the ball through backward point, skidded on a little bit more, and I got a bit late, and (Yashasvi Jaiswal) took a very good catch. It’s a two-edged sword. Week before, I wasn’t playing enough shots, and then this week, people are unhappy because you’re playing too many shots. So at the end of the day, I’m not here to please everyone. I’m here to win games for Australia.”

Warner did not back down when asked about Labuschagne’s response this morning.

“I reckon his comments would have been tongue-in-cheek. More taking the Mickey,” he said.

“We want to see Marnus score, we want to see a big hundred. It’s his home venue. He knows this ground better than anyone else.”

Warner’s issue with Labuschagne was not just about where he was hitting the ball.

“It’s more when he gets to 50, he wants to play that shot (to the gully region). I don’t think it’s a shot for him to want to play when he’s 50. You want to try and get on with it, but I sort of feel when he is dabbing outside off stump that is not when he is at his best. He is still poking.

“For Marnus, just concentrate on batting. We know he loves eating cricket ball sandwiches. I want to pencil him in for a big hundred. We love him, but don’t worry about the noise, what we’re saying.”

Labuschagne came into the Adelaide Oval contest with one half century in 10 digs and is averaging a very below par 28 for this calendar year.

But he showed his grit in Adelaide with a gutsy 64 having survived an intense night session under lights against Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Siraj.

Despite the important knock Warner suggested it had more to do with India not utilising the conditions than his former teammate batting well, kicking off the war of words.

“I’m still not convinced with Marnus. I don’t think that was anywhere near what we know he’s capable of,” Warner told the Herald Sun mid-week.

“He might have got a couple out of the middle, got a couple of freebies, batted well that night to get through but they bowled poorly.

“So from that perspective, he had the best conditions to come out and bat in. But he got out the same way he always does get out when he gets over 50, hits it straight to gully.

“So there’s a lack of awareness there of what he’s got to be mindful of. I don’t think he’s anywhere near where he should be.”

Warner did back Steve Smith and Usman Khawaja to bat their way into form despite both having worse averages than Labuschagne - Khawaja averaging 25.66 and Smith 23.20.

“Steve of late, I think a lot of teams have been bowling at his pads and down leg side. So I think from that perspective they’re trying to shut his scoring down quite a bit,” he said.

“You see he’s trying to tinker with fixing certain things with Bumrah. His feet weren’t moving across this time. We know what Steve’s like, one knock and then he’s there.

“But as we know, the best form of currency is runs so you’ve just got to try your best to churn them out.

“Uz, exactly the same. He’s had a great 12 months before. But then of late he hasn’t scored as many runs as he would have liked, but same thing, you’ve just got to go out there and still present the same attitude, the same at training, keep working hard.”