The Ashes: Sam Konstas and Marnus Labuschagne crack rapid tons as ‘bat-off’ gets underwayJake Santa MariaThe West AustralianWed, 17 September 2025 4:24PMCommentsCommentsEmail Jake Santa Maria
Marnus Labuschagne and Sam Konstas have both made statement centuries to turbocharge the race to open the batting for Australia in the Ashes series.
Labuschagne — who was dumped from the Test side during the series against the West Indies — made a blistering ton for Queensland in their one-day cup win over Victoria on Wednesday.
The Bulls captain hit 130 off 118 balls in their season-opener to lay down a marker less than 24 hours after teenage sensation Konstas made a ton of his own in Australia A’s four-day match against India A in Lucknow.
With no Test or first-class century in his last 42 innings and an average of less than 30 since 2023, Labuschagne’s knock gives his Test hopes a significant boost.
“I just trusted my game today and it was nice to be playing at my best and trusting my instincts,” he said.
“I think it always happens at some stage in your career where you are searching … and you get a little muddled and not as clear.
“Nothing else matters but runs. The format doesn’t matter. I know if I am playing my best I will find my way in the team.”
After opening alongside Khawaja in the World Test Championship final, he knows a spot at the top of the order will be his most likely route back into the Test team.
“I don’t care where I bat, if I have to open or bat three,” he said. “The fact of the matter is that when you are not in the team you don’t have the luxury of choosing where you bat.”
Konstas made a masterful century as Australian batters feasted in Lucknow on Tuesday evening (AWST time).
While he is the incumbent at the top of the order, Konstas arguably has the most to prove after a disastrous tour of the West Indies, where he made just 50 runs in six innings.
The soon-to-be 20-year-old cracked 109 off 144 balls, bringing up his 100 with a six over long-on in a masterful display of attack and defence.
While the subcontinent conditions could not be further away from the opening Test in Perth, Konstas admitted the knock was a massive confidence boost after his Caribbean toil.
“I thought I had to face quite a few demons mentally just trying to get through that and, yeah, obviously different challenges and just trying to adapt to the conditions,” Konstas said after play.
“So super stoked and hopefully can build on from that. Just backing my instincts and yeah, just trying to rinse and repeat each ball with my process.”
Elsewhere last year’s top Shield run scorer and Tasmanian opener, Jake Weatherald, made 28 in his side’s thrilling One-Day Cup win.
A traditional opener, there is hardly anything more the Tasmanian could have done to earn selection last summer, with his strike rate of 68.27 the highest among all Shield openers.
He also scored 54 and 183 on his Australia A debut against Sri Lanka in July, and his aggressive stroke play could partner well with Usman Khawaja’s more conservative approach, much in the same vein as David Warner.
Forgotten New South Wales No.3 Kurtis Patterson also cracked a ton as he continues his comeback after only returning to the team last November.
With national selector George Bailey watching on, Patterson brought up his 100 off 113 balls on a day when no other Blue passed 42.
Former Test opener Marcus Harris had a domestic return to forget after being bowled by Michael Neser for a golden duck, but is coming off a strong winter, having made three 100s and five 50s at 60.41 for County outfit Lancashire.
WA opener Cameron Bancroft also starred in the County season, finishing as Gloucestershire’s second-highest run-scorer before returning early to join WA.
After enduring a horror stretch last summer that saw him miss out on a Test return, Bancroft cannot afford another slow start when WA’s Shield season gets underway on October 4.
Teammate Josh Inglis is already the most likely to come into the Ashes XI should there be injuries, as he did in the Caribbean for Steve Smith, but is unlikely to have further red-ball opportunities before the first Test in November.
Inglis is set to tour New Zealand for three Twenty20 Internationals before being part of Australia’s squad for India’s white ball tour.
LIKELY UPCOMING MATCHES FOR TEST CONTENDERS
Sam Konstas
2nd unofficial Test v India A (Lucknow)
Shield
WA v NSW (WACA)
VIC v NSW (Junction Oval)
QLD v NSW (Gabba)
Marnus Labuschagne
Upcoming matches
3 ODI v India (home)
One-Day Cup
QLD v WA
Shield
QLD v TAS (Gabba)
QLD v NSW (Gabba)
WA v QLD (WACA)
Jake Weatherald
One-Day Cup
TAS v VIC
QLD v TAS
TAS v WA
Shield
QLD v TAS (Gabba)
TAS v WA (Hobart)
VIC v TAS (Junction Oval)
TAS v SA (Hobart)
Kurtis Patterson
One-Day Cup
NSW v SA
WA v NSW
VIC v NSW
NSW v QLD
Shield
WA v NSW (WACA)
VIC v NSW (Junction Oval)
QLD v NSW (Gabba)
NSW v VIC (SCG)
Marcus Harris
One-Day Cup
TAS v VIC
SA V VIC
VIC V NSW
Shield
SA v VIC (Adelaide)
VIC v NSW (Junction Oval)
VIC v TAS (Junction Oval)
NSW v VIC (SCG)
Cameron Bancroft
Shield
WA v NSW (WACA)
TAS v WA (Hobart)
WA v SA (WACA)
WA V QLD (WACA)
Josh Inglis
3 T20I v New Zealand (away)
3 ODI v India (home)
5 T20I v India (home)
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