Full circle: Marnus excited about “pretty special” South Africa Test return

Australia’s Marnus Labuschagne admits playing Test cricket in South Africa this year would be extremely special for him.

Labuschagne, who was born in South Africa, moved to Australia at the age of 10, where his cricket career then blossomed.

While he’s a veteran of 63 Tests now, the 31-year-old has never had the chance to play Test cricket in his country of birth, and with a three-Test series now ahead in October, Labuschagne is beginning to think of a journey which will truly take him full circle.

“I think that'd be a great moment to be able to go there and experience the Test side of the game,” Labuschagne said on SEN’s The New Ball.

"I've watched so many games when I was in South Africa, and even now, watching old games at Newlands, games at the Bullring, games in Cape Town, and all these different places.

"To be able to go there and actually play at these venues that I grew up watching, that would be pretty special.

"Obviously, it'd be my first Test tour to South Africa, so it would be really cool to be able to go there and enjoy being part of that squad, but also to go there and perform and get back to playing cricket at my absolute best."

The South Africa tour will be Australia’s first away Test tour in some time, and one of the reasons behind the big gap in schedule is no doubt the fact that more franchise cricket is being played than ever before.

With competitions like the IPL securing a dedicated window without Test cricket already, Labuschagne was asked if he was concerned about the longest format’s future as the intersection between franchise cricket and red ball cricket continues to become murkier.

"I'm not concerned about the longest format of the game, because I think players still want to play Test cricket," Labuschagne said.

“You speak to anyone, even guys who started in the shortest format and then played Test cricket, the thing they hold most value in is the longest format.

"It means the most, it means more, it's a deeper connection to any of the other formats that they have played, so I don't think that's in danger in any way.

"But I do think there's going to be some clashes between Test cricket and the franchise leagues... and people will get drawn into those opportunities.

"We're lucky in Australia, because our Test and contracted players are well looked after.”

Listen to Labuschagne’s full chat with Tom Morris and Bharat Sundaresan here