Marnus Labuschagne on Australia’s ODI World Cup Loss: No Excuses, We Must Improve
Marnus Labuschagne acknowledges Australia’s poor fielding and batting in their 134-run loss to South Africa at the 2023 World Cup, emphasizing the need to improve and win upcoming matches.

Following Australia’s 134-run loss to South Africa in the 2023 World Cup, Marnus Labuschagne expressed a determined attitude, stating that Australia is prepared to face the challenge of securing victory in six, if not all, of their remaining seven matches to qualify for the knockout stages. Despite the team’s struggles, Labuschagne believes there’s still time for the five-time champions to regain their best form.
Australia’s fielding woes continued as they missed five catches, highlighting a concerning pattern of subpar fielding performances. All-rounder Marcus Stoinis dropped a straightforward catch during South Africa’s innings, and even Skipper Pat Cummins missed a simple return catch off his own bowling. Mitchell Starc, Josh Inglis, and sub-fielder Sean Abbott were among those who missed opportunities in the field.
Furthermore, Australia’s batting lacked momentum as their batters struggled to reach a total of 177 in response to South Africa’s 311/7, resulting in their second consecutive defeat.
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In a press conference, Labuschagne refused to make excuses for Australia’s poor performance in the field and emphasized the need for improvement in this discipline as the tournament progresses.
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“I’m not here to sit and make excuses. We’re representing Australia in a World Cup, and we need to be prepared and perform at our best. It’s difficult to pinpoint the exact issue because we’re known as one of the best fielding sides in the world. We take pride in our fielding,” Labuschagne stated, as quoted by the cricket.com.au website.
“We had opportunities today, and we didn’t capitalize on them. It wasn’t a great performance from us, but we have to regroup and keep the momentum going,” he added.
Labuschagne acknowledged the difficulty of the loss but stressed the importance of moving forward. He stated, “We can be disappointed with this performance and many other things… but the reality is, you can’t dwell on it in the changing room. We need to take action and kickstart our tournament.”
“In three days, we have Sri Lanka as our opponents here. Both teams are winless in their two matches, so we need to win every game from here or at least come close to reaching the top four. We may not have had a good start, but this is just the beginning, not the end,” Labuschagne emphasized.
Australia’s next match is against Sri Lanka, who has also faced two losses in the tournament. The match will take place on Monday at the same venue.