Mominul at ‘Number Three’ in 3 years

Some numbers in cricket are not just numbers. Number three, for example.

Since the one-down have to come in after an opener becomes out, Number-Three batter has to test of the new ball, and once the first wicket falls, the burden of the team’s innings falls on his shoulders.

At this point, the batter sometimes has to patiently handle the pressure, sometimes he has to score runs quickly and set the tone for the batting.

Don Bradman, Vivian Richards, Ricky Ponting, Rahul Dravid, Kumar Sangakkara-all such legendary batters could explain the importance of one- down or Number-Three position better.

That importance is still there. If you look at the performance of batters at Number-Three in Test cricket in the last three years, you will know an interesting thing. Bangladesh’s Mominul Haque has made the Number-Three synonymous with himself.

In the last three years, he is exactly number three in terms of runs scored by batter after batting at Number- Three. Only England’s Ollie Pope and New Zealand’s Kane Williamson are above him.

Mominul Haque has batted at number three in 26 innings in 15 Tests since September 2023. He has scored 979 runs at an average of 40.79. He has one century and eight fifties. That is, he has crossed fifty runs for nine times in 26 innings.

Of the two who have done better than Mominul Haque, Pope’s runs are 1369 in 38 innings, five centuries and three fifties, and Williamson’s 1360 runs in 30 innings, five centuries and two fifties.

That is, Mominul Haque is ahead of these two in terms of touching fifty. However, he has fallen behind because he has not been able to make most of his fifties.

The reason for this analysis of number three is Marnus Labuschagne. This batsman, who has held the number three position in Australia for a long time, has been struggling for several days.

His average in 43 innings in the last three years is just 24.69. Out of the 56 batsmen who have played at least 20 innings, only three have a worse average. Two have also retired.

Of those who have batted at number three in these three years (top 10), Labuschagne is the only one who has not scored a century. In the last series against Bangladesh, for example, he was dismissed for 1, 31 and 4 runs in three innings respectively.

Seeing Labuschagne’s such a letdown, Ricky Ponting said that Australia should now look for someone else for one-down.
However, the selectors did not go that way in the end.

Australia are going to South Africa for three Tests. Labuschagne has been included in the team for that tour.

This is the first time Australia are going to South Africa since the infamous ‘Shirish Kagoj’ scandal in 2018. The selectors did not take the risk of putting the burden of playing at Number-Three on someone new.