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Greg Chappell says Marnus Labuschagne's turnaround must begin in his mind

Former international cricketer Greg Chappell believes that out-of-form batsman Marnus Labuschagne must fix his psychological approach rather than just relying on training sessions to recover his scoring touch. Labuschagne has failed to record a three-figure score in Test cricket over a span of forty-nine innings following his last century at Old Trafford during the 2023 Ashes series.

During this slump, he has managed 1,094 runs at a 24.31 average with nine fifties across twenty-six matches, including a recent output of just 131 runs across six innings against South Africa.

Chappell diagnosed the struggling number three with what he terms Elite Players Decline Syndrome, a condition where accumulated awareness of the difficulty of facing elite bowling attacks causes veterans to become overly cautious. Citing a past discussion with Sachin Tendulkar regarding how batting seemingly grows harder with age, Chappell noted that Labuschagne's crease movement and technique have visibly deteriorated.

He cautioned that simply insisting on working harder will not fix the slump unless the batsman alters his mental attitude and sheds his defensive mindset.

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