For his further act, Labuschagne subbed in for Smith in a Lord’s Test match, replaced him at Headingley and complemented him in the final two Tests as Australia kept hold of the Ashes. Cricket is full of odd couples, but the oddest thing about this couple is that they were to all intents, purposes and tics identical. It was one thing Labuschagne idolised Smith and imitated his idiosyncrasies, another that he had the wherewithal to make hard-earned runs alongside him, another still that he bobbed up with a vital wicket here and there as Smith once did. Labuschagne was all things to all men, but as was becoming clear, within him was his own man. Still a doubt remain, an itch not scratched. Labuschagne had compiled five increasingly authoritative half-centuries, but not yet crested 100. It is such a sacred number that until a batsman achieves it, he can never be sure that he has one within him. It’s like wannabe authors and books. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video

So an hour into Saturday’s play, the stage was set. Naseem Shah had come back from the repechage to dismiss David Warner, a jolting short ball doing the trick. Run-cruncher Warner, attacked at last from around the wicket a la England, had added only three in an hour. Every day of Test cricket is played in a new key. Then Smith hit around a Yasir Shah leg-break and was bowled. It would be wrong to say it was an atypical Smith shot, right that it was an atypical outcome. Having spent so long fidgeting in the change rooms, Smith had no more fiddle for the middle. Here was the flaw in Paine’s philosophy! Smith and Warner had contributed seven between them this day. Remember it for future trivia quizzes. Labuschagne, meantime, had started on 55 and built fluently on it, with a bat broken in just that morning and an outlook recharged every morning. Even in his batsmanship, Labuschagne plays roles. When he set in the lower middle order, it had a willing but rough cast. Since assuming the No.3 position, he has increasingly batted with that post’s requisite authority and polish. This day he added another stripe. There was no ball that had the measure of him. He left, drove and pulled on his terms, but with Smith’s waggle, for effect. As for a couple of his straight drives, Ricky Ponting would have traded for them. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video