Steve Smith praised Marnus Labuschagne for making a 'big statement' in the summer as the latter is in contention to make a Test squad return for next month's Ashes at home. After a prolonged lull in form, Labuschagne had been dropped from the West Indies Tests earlier this year. But he has hit the ground running in the ongoing Sheffield Shield, hitting centuries for fun.
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Marnus told me in the summer he'll be back in the Test team - Steve Smith
Steve Smith praised Labuschagne for backing up his words and proving his worth in the ongoing Sheffield Shield © Getty
"He said to me at the start of the summer, 'I'll be in that Test team, come the first Test'. He's backed up his words," Smith said. "I sent him a message a couple of days ago, saying how proud I was of him. He's obviously got dropped from the team and he's just gone back and he's got four hundreds in (six) hits.
"That's a pretty big statement. He's obviously not selected yet, but he's done a lot of things right," Smith said.
On his part, Labuschagne has stated that he will be
