Rickelton' move spares him Labuschagne's fate

Ryan Rickelton, by his own admission, doesn't speak Afrikaans. But he knows how to say maybe the most Afrikaans name around: Labuschagne. That's La-boo-skagh-knee, sportslovers. Not La-bu-shane, Australians. Rickelton proved as much by saying the name twice during his press conference at Newlands on Sunday.

He was answering questions about the verbal skirmishes between Marco Jansen and Marnus Labuschagne -- two exports from Klerksdorp, about as Afrikaans a place as can be found -- that have become a feature of South Africa's Test series against Australia.

"Because Marnus is obviously Afrikaans is the highlight for [Jansen]; that they can chat in Afrikaans to each other," Rickelton said.

"Obviously Marnus isn't the only one feeling the heat. All of us are in various ways. But [Jansen and Labuschagne] have had a good contest. With Marco's aggression he doesn't shy away. He knows what an important cog Marnus has been in the Australian team. We also know the value of getting him out early, because he is still a seriously good player. Marco will be fired up for that and looking to put him under pressure."

There are a few things going on there. Labuschagne is hardly "obviously" Afrikaans. What's obvious is his unmistakably Aussie accent -- he moved there with his family when he was 10. Just as obvious is that Rickelton and Labuschagne are not in the best batting form.

Rickelton has gone nine Test innings without reaching 50. He has faced 100 balls only once in that time. Labuschagne's lean run has lasted 14 trips to the crease. The closest he has come to being there for 100 balls was in the second innings of the St George's Park Test last week.

He rashly tried to hit the 98th delivery he faced, from Simon Harmer, into a stiff westerly and was caught at long-on. By Jansen, of course. Too many of Labuschagne's recent innings have been ended by poor decisions. Rickelton has been undone by suspect strokes, sniping deliveries or stunning catches. He was the victim of Matt Renshaw's screamer at slip in the first innings at St George's Park.

Whether Jansen and Labuschagne will be able to resume their rivalry in the third and deciding Test at Newlands, which starts on Tuesday, is uncertain. Because Labuschagne's place in the XI is not at all guaranteed, given his fresh failures. Rickelton can be more sure that he will play. Kyle Verreynne was dropped after the first Test at Kingsmead, and Rickelton took over the gloves and moved from an opening berth to No. 6. Which seems to suit him just fine.

"Sometimes when I'm playing purely as a batter I can stand on the boundary for 90 overs and kind of drift away," Rickelton said. "That's what I've done growing up, keeping and batting in the middle order. I really enjoyed that; being locked in every single ball. I think it adds to my batting as well."

As for the change in his batting role: "Opening the batting in Test cricket sucks, it's really hard. I've got a lot of respect for guys who open throughout their careers. I've watched guys like Aiden [Markram], who's a free-flowing player, have to rein himself in a lot. He looks to score but his ability to hold himself back is really what it comes down to. It's easier to bat in the middle order as the ball gets older and the bowlers get tired. You can be more expressive in the way you go about it.

"I think I've batted from one to six in this side; I've experienced all the roles. Opening definitely is the hardest. To hold yourself back has been challenging for me.

"Sometimes the newer ball makes me tighten up and makes me a better player. But you get the opportunity to bat at five and it's not as favourable for the bowlers. That's your time to cash in.

"Ashwell Prince mentioned in our batters' meeting that the top three are doing the hard work to get overs under the belt, to take the newness of the ball away. It's the middle order's job to make sure that they score runs and cash in on the work that the top order have done."

Rickelton seems to find that easier to do at Newlands. He has played just three of his 73 first-class matches there, but they were memorable games for him. In January 2022 he scored 90 and 102 not out for the Lions against Western Province. The next November in the same fixture he made an unbeaten 112. In January last year he scored a career-best 259 in the first innings against Pakistan.

"To come back to a ground where I'm familiar with red-ball and white-ball cricket, and where I've had some success, is comforting. I walked out here and I said to Kruger [van Wyk, South Africa's fielding coach] that it's good to be home. It's nice to be looking forward to playing at a ground where I've put up a good show before."

He batted at No. 4 in those two provincial matches but opened in the Test. Sometimes opening doesn't suck.

Just like Labuschagne wasn't always pronounced in the South African way. The first members of the family came to the country as Huguenots fleeing religious persecution. In France, their last name sounded much more like the Australian version. Take that, South African sportslovers.