Marnus Labuschagne

Stokes ends India batsman Virat Kohli's three-year reign in possession of the honour and becomes the first Englishman since fellow all-rounder Andrew Flintoff to be considered the best player in the global game by the esteemed publication.

The body of work amassed by Stokes over the course of an outstanding 2019 made him an obvious frontrunner for such recognition.

He top-scored with an unbeaten 84 as England took the World Cup final into a super over, where Stokes and Jos Buttler scored 15 before the hosts won on the boundary count back rule at Lord's.

Remarkably, that was not Stokes' finest hour of the English summer, as he went on to score 135 not out to seal an enthralling one-wicket win over Australia in the fourth Ashes Test at Headingley – an innings to rank alongside the all-time greats in cricket's longest format.

Jofra Archer, another standout performer in England's World Cup and Ashes campaigns was named as one of Wisden's five cricketers of the year for 2019, along with Australia duo Marnus Labuschagne and Pat Cummins.

Labuschagne's introduction to the series came as a concussion substitute when Steve Smith was struck by a brutish Archer bouncer and he went on to make the number three position his own, averaging 112 in the Australian summer that followed.

Cummins underlined his status as the number one pace bowler in the world with 29 wickets against England in an urn-retaining 2-2 draw.

That is a standing Archer can certainly aspire to, having claimed 55 wickets across all formats in his breakthrough international year.

Wisden's five cricketers of 2019 were rounded out by Simon Harmer, the Essex spinner whose 83 wickets gave him 12 more scalps than any other bowler on the way to County Championship glory, and Ellyse Perry.

Perry was Australia's leading run-scorer (378) and wicket-taker (15) in the 2019 Women's Ashes and was also named the leading women's player in the world.

West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell is the leading T20 cricketer.

Mitchell Starc also claimed a wicket to leave West Indies on 38-4 in their second innings and needing an improbable 459 runs to avoid defeat on Sunday.

West Indies resumed play on day three on 102-4 and got off to a poor start when shining light Tagenarine Chanderpaul (47) was run-out by Starc.

Jason Holder (0) then edged Starc behind and, while Anderson Phillip (43) and Joshua da Silva (23) put together a 60-run seventh-wicket stand, the Windies soon faded again.

The tourists reached 214, and Australia then built up a seemingly unsurmountable lead as they posted 199-6 declared in their second innings and sent their opponents back in to bat.

Usman Khawaja top-scored with 45 off 50 balls for Australia, while Marnus Labuschagne (31), Steve Smith (35) and Travis Head (38 not out) all contributed in a rapid 31-over innings from Australia.

West Indies' opening batters were 15-0 off five overs when Smith brought in Boland, who took the wicket of Kraigg Braithwaite (3) off his first ball.

Boland then trapped Shamarh Brooks (0) in front with a ball that nipped back into the right-hanger from his third delivery, before snaring Jermaine Blackwood (0) with his sixth.

Chanderpaul did not fare much better as he was dismissed for a second time in the day three overs later for 17 when caught by Alex Carey off the bowling of Starc.

Labuschagne adds further misery

West Indies are winless in their past 18 Tests against Australia since 2003 and they have not had many – if any – worse days across that run than Saturday.

They lost 10 wickets for 150 runs across two innings, either side of Australia piling another 199, with Labuschagne's 31 taking him to 502 runs from his four innings – the sixth-most scored in a two-Test series.

Boland rips through Windies

Boland famously took 6-7 against England on his Test debut in last year's Ashes and he produced a display that was equally as ruthless here.

The 33-year-old, making just his fourth Test outing, claimed 3-9 off 5.2 overs bowled and now has a bowling average 9.81 for his 21 wickets.

Australia opener Warner polled 194 votes, one more than Smith, while last year's winner Pat Cummins was also close behind with 185.

Marnus Labuschagne won the award for Men's Test Player of the Year, with Smith again coming a close second, while Aaron Finch claimed the ODI honour for the first time and Warner made it a double by landing the T20I gong.

Warner previously won the Allan Border Medal in 2016 and 2017, with four-time winners Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke the only players to have won the accolade, considered the most prestigious individual prize in Australian men's cricket, on more occasions.

The 33-year-old impressed across all formats during last season, scoring three centuries at the Cricket World Cup at an average of 71.88.

Warner struggled as Australia retained the Ashes in England but rebounded with superb home Test performances against Pakistan, versus whom he scored 335 not out in Adelaide, and then New Zealand.

The batsman's T20 form was spectacular, as he averaged 147.61 in three clashes with Sri Lanka and 140 in another trio of matches against Pakistan, helping him to see off 2019 winner Glenn Maxwell in the voting for the T20 honour in addition to the Allan Border Medal.

Warner and Smith both impressed as they returned from one-year suspensions in 2019 after their involvement in the ball-tampering affair the previous year.

The Australian Cricket Awards are voted for by players, the media and umpires after each Australia game.

Fast bowler Wes Agar was named The Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year, while in the women's game The Belinda Clark Award went to Ellyse Perry, who like Warner is a three-time winner of the top prize available.

Having seen Marnus Labuschagne achieve the rare feat of a double and single century in the same match with his 104 not out, the hosts had declared on 182-2 on Saturday.

With 498 to defend, hopes of an easy cruise to the finish line proved more complicated for Pat Cummins' side, with the skipper forced off with a quad strain in the fourth innings.

Though he later returned to the field, the tourists proved to be anything but easy pickings in Perth, with Brathwaite (101 not out) leading a spirited charge in pursuit, to finish the day on 192-3.

Nathan Lyon (2-54) and Mitchell Starc (1-36) made some headway with the ball, but there is still work to do for the hosts to finish the job.

The day had appeared to belong to Labuschagne, becoming only the third Australian and eighth player overall to post a double century and a single century across the two innings of a red-ball match.

However, Brathwaite, ably supported by Tagenarine Chanderpaul (45), gave the Windies a glimmer of hope heading into an intriguing final day.

Two declarations the treat for Australia

Having curtailed their own innings twice, it is a testament to the hosts' dominance that they look absurdly sharp ahead of what will be a busy month that also sees them welcome South Africa for red-ball encounters.

For Labuschagne in particular, with his total score eclipsing his previous best of 274 set against New Zealand in 2020, it proves that his resurgence in Galle against Sri Lanka last month was no fluke, too, in what will be a major relief.

West Indies on brink of defeat

Having seen Australia rack up their second-biggest total against them in the country – behind Sydney in 1969 – it was always going to be a long stretch for the tourists to take this one.

With a full day of cricket ahead, it will take some serious effort from their middle order and tail to either play for a draw or mount a shock result.

Much of the talk ahead of the match in Nagpur was over the condition of the pitch and Jadeja took centre stage with the ball, where the tourists collapsed to 177 all out after Pat Cummins won the toss and elected to bat.

Jadeja, playing his first international since August after undergoing knee surgery, took 5-47 and Ravichandran Ashwin (3-42) reached the 450 Test-wicket milestone in fewer matches than any other India bowler as Australia folded from 84-2.

India were 77-1 at stumps in reply as part of a great start to their quest to lift the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Rohit Sharma unbeaten on 56 as both sides bid to secure a place in the World Test Championship final at The Oval in June.

Australia were reduced to 2-2 with Mohammed Siraj trapping Usman Khawaja leg before wicket with an outswinger before Mohammed Shami sent David Warner's off stump flying.

Marnus Labuschagne (49) and Steve Smith (37) put on 82 for the third wicket, but Jadeja had the number three stumped and was on a hat-trick after getting Matt Renshaw lbw early in the afternoon session.

Spinning all-rounder Jadeja struck a huge blow by bowling Smith through the gate, but Peter Handscomb – preferred to Travis Head – and Alex Carey briefly steadied the ship with a stand of 53.

Ashwin then came to the fore to join the 450 club, cleaning up Carey (36) and sending Cummins on his way before Jadeja got rid of debutant Todd Murphy without scoring and Handscomb (31).

Tweaker Ashwin saw the back of Scott Boland to end Australia's innings in the 64th over, and although Murphy had KL Rahul caught and bowled late in the day, Rohit was still there at stumps along with nightwatchman Ashwin.

Jadeja has his day in the sun

As he prepared to make his comeback this week, Jadeja said he "hadn't felt the sun for about five months" during his recovery.

Australia felt the heat as the left-armer shone on day one of the four-match series, claiming his 11th five-wicket Test haul.

This was his fourth five-wicket Test haul against Australia, the most he has claimed against any nation. Since the 34-year-old's debut in December 2012, only Stuart Broad (six) and Ashwin (five) have picked up more against Australia.

Ashwin second-fastest to 450

It was another day to remember for Ashwin, who took his tally of wickets in the longest format to 450 in his 89th match.

That beat the previous India record held by Anil Kumble, who reached that incredible tally in 93 contests. Only Muttiah Muralitharan got to the landmark in fewer matches, the Sri Lanka spinner achieving the feat in his 80th Test.

The Australians, who lead the three-game series 1-0, are 45-1 in reply with David Warner, playing his 100th Test, surviving through to stumps on 32 not out alongside Marnus Labuschagne (5no).

Australia captain Pat Cummins raised a few eyebrows by opting to bowl after winning the toss but will feel justified given the state of play, while South Africa have now gone seven Test innings without reaching 200.

The Proteas slumped to 67-5 with local hero Scott Boland claiming the opening wicket of Sarel Erwee (18) before some brilliance from Labuschagne in the field, running out skipper Dean Elgar for 26 with a direct hit before pulling off a flying catch to dismiss Khaya Zondo (5).

But Kyle Verreynne and Marco Jansen led the rearguard, which had the hosts worried before Green took centre stage with his ability to swing the old ball.

He dismissed both Verreynne (52) and Jansen (59) with edges to first slip Steve Smith and wicketkeeper Alex Carey respectively.

Verreynne and Jansen had combined for a 108-run stand which was only South Africa's third 100-run partnership of the calendar year.

From there, Western Australian all-rounder Green made light work of the tail to finish with 5-27 as the Proteas' final five wickets fell for just 10 runs.

In 12 overs late in the day, Australia lost Usman Khawaja (1) who was caught behind by Verreynne off Kagiso Rabada, while under-fire Warner appeared focused in his milestone game and navigated his way through to stumps.

Starc injury concern for Aussies

Green's five-wicket haul came at a good time for Australia with Verreynne and Jansen appearing settled, but also with left-arm quick Mitchell Starc nursing a finger injury.

Starc spent time off the field for treatment on the middle finger of his bowling hand after diving to catch Jansen's lofted shot to long-on, returning with heavy taping on the issue.

Local hero delights again

Boland only finished with 1-34 from his 14 overs but the Victorian right-arm fast bowler was cheered by his parochial crowd throughout, dating back to his heroics at the same venue 12 months ago in the Ashes when he took 6-7.

Boland got the opening wicket with perfect line and length, drawing an edge from opener Erwee to third slip Khawaja.

Responding to Pakistan's first innings' 476-4 declared and resuming on five without loss, Khawaja's 97, along with half-centuries from David Warner (68) and Marnus Labuschagne (69 not out), took the tourists to 271-2 - trailing by 205 runs when bad light stopped play.

It means Australia, playing with heavy hearts following the sudden passing of legendary leg-spinner Shane Warne on Friday, are in an excellent position to at least claim a draw.

The Islamabad-born Khawaja and Warner laid the foundations, combining for a stand of 156, the second-highest opening partnership in Test history in Rawalpindi.

Both Khawaja and Warner played in attacking fashion, the former's half-century coming off just 67 balls. Warner's came in 86, but he was undone when he attempted to go square through the off side and missed a Sajid Khan delivery that careered into middle stump.

His exit did not open the floodgates as Pakistan might have hoped, but they did at least prevent Khawaja from recording an 11th Test hundred.

Khawaja contributed to his own downfall as he got a reverse sweep all wrong, gloving Nauman Ali to Imam-ul-Haq at foward short-leg, with Aleem Dar forced to overturn his original not out decision following a review.

Yet, with Labuschange and Steve Smith (24 not out) surviving until the fading light forced the players off, Australia have two batters who are among the most difficult in world cricket to dislodge set at the crease, a sign that is, for Pakistan, as ominous as the gloom that stopped proceedings.

Khawaja and Warner narrowly miss out on history

Only Mark Taylor and Michael Slater (176) have linked up for a higher first-wicket stand than Khawaja and Warner in Rawalpindi, that duo excelling in October 1994 in a match that ultimately ended in a draw. The same result looks likely again here after Khawaja and Warner narrowly missed out on surpassing their compatriots.

Labuschagne to let loose?

Pakistan will have painful memories of their previous two encounters against Labuschagne, which saw him score 185 at Brisbane and then 162 at Adelaide in 2019. He looks in the kind of form to deliver another massive score.

Khawaja, 33, was dropped from the Test team during last year's Ashes, while his last ODI was also in 2019.

Marsh, 36, has been out of international action since mid-2019 and was also left off a 20-player list named on Thursday.

"As Mitch Marsh and Matthew Wade have proven there are always plenty of opportunities for those who have missed out to be reselected by performing consistently at domestic level; and importantly to make the most of any opportunity that comes their way at international level," Australia national selector Trevor Hohns said in a statement.

"As is always the case there are unlucky omissions but, however, because you are not on the list does not mean you cannot be selected to represent Australia."

Marnus Labuschagne, Joe Burns, Matthew Wade, Mitchell Marsh, Kane Richardson and Ashton Agar were called up to the nationally contracted list.

It continues Labuschagne's incredible rise, with the right-hander averaging 63.43 in 14 Tests and 50.83 in seven ODIs.

"We feel all deserve their inclusion recognising the performances of those players in the past 12 months and, as importantly, what they can offer in the next 12 months," Hohns said.

"Marnus' rise has been meteoric and well documented, Joe has been a good Test match player, Ashton Agar’s form in T20 internationals has been exceptional, while Kane Richardson has been outstanding in the 20-over and one-day games.

"Matthew Wade's summer showed he is not only a tough but a good Test player for us. His form extended into white-ball cricket late in the summer, earning him well-deserved call-ups to the one-day and T20 Australian squads.

"After missing the list last year Mitch Marsh's recent form showed he has a lot of international cricket ahead of him as a batting all-rounder. Mitch proved this with his man-of-the-match performance against New Zealand at the SCG in the last game Australia played and a five-wicket haul in the last Test match he played on the Ashes tour."

Cricket Australia contracted player list: Ashton Agar, Joe Burns, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Tim Paine, James Pattinson, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa.

Winning the toss and choosing to bat first, the hosts found themselves 12-1 in the fourth over after David Warner edged to first slip off Anrich Nortje's bowling.

Khawaja showed no signs of joining Warner in the sheds, patiently making his way to 54 not out off 121 deliveries for his 21st Test half century in his 99th innings.

Play was interrupted just after 2pm local time due to bad light, and 30 minutes later the rain arrived. After over two hours, play resumed, but they were only able to sneak in another four overs before deciding the light was insufficient.

South Africa will be glad they were able to play that late mini-session, claiming the wicket of Labuschagne with the penultimate ball of the day in the 47th over.

Labuschagne had come in and steadied the ship, adding 79 runs off 151 deliveries after surviving two reviews – with a bit of glove negating an lbw shout, and a near catch in the slips bouncing just in front of the fielder.

His day ended when Nortje found his outside edge with a short delivery, allowing both teams to head into the pavilion with positives to cling to.

SCG a happy hunting ground for Khawaja

Khawaja came into the contest boasting an average of 98.3 from his nine Test innings at the SCG, and he boosted that figure to 107.3 by the close.

For his career, Khawaja is averaging 52.3 runs in Australia, which is dramatically higher than his averages in South Africa (24.2) and England (19.7).

Up-and-down Warner provides selection headache heading into Ashes season

While Warner will feel he has done his job this series, averaging 52.3 from his four innings as Australia push for a 3-0 sweep, his opening spot is still up for grabs for this year's Ashes campaign.

His average this series is buoyed by his terrific 200 in the second Test, but the 36-year-old's other three innings have resulted in scores of nought, three and 10.

Not since Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke plundered double tons against India in January 2012 had any pair of batters made 200-plus scores in the same innings of a Test match.

This first Test saw Australia follow up their opening-day dominance with more commanding batting to reach 598-4 on Thursday, before West Indies rallied to reach 74-0 at stumps, with debutant Tagenarine Chanderpaul closing in on a half-century.

Labuschagne had been 154no overnight, and Smith was with him on 59, and they went on to post 204 and 200no respectively, sharing in a third-wicket stand of 251 runs. It was a second Test double century for Labuschagne, and a fourth for Smith.

Australia declared when Travis Head was dismissed on 99, edging the 95th ball of his innings into his stumps to give West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite a second wicket, ending a 196-run alliance with Smith.

In reply, Chanderpaul, son of West Indies great Shivnarine Chanderpaul, powered to 47no as Brathwaite battled to 18no, offering hope the tourists may be able to show sufficient defiance to still take something from this match, the first of two in the series.

Smith joins Bradman

Smith's century, which became a double, was his 29th ton in Tests, moving him level with the great Don Bradman on the all-time list. He and Bradman share fourth place among Australia century-makers, behind Ricky Ponting (41), Steve Waugh (32) and Matthew Hayden (30).

Chanderpaul a chip off the old block

Facing the full assault of Australia's pace attack, Chanderpaul did not always look comfortable against Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, but he found a way to survive to the close.

Dad Shivnarine made 11,867 Test runs for West Indies, so Tagenarine is just 11,820 behind now. More relevantly, perhaps, Shivnarine made 62 in his first Test innings, against England in Georgetown in 1994. After this strong start, West Indies will hope his son can go significantly past that score on Friday.

Labuschagne, 25, earned a national contract last week after impressing in Tests and ODIs, formats of the game he averages 63.43 and 50.83 in respectively.

The right-hander has played just 10 T20s during his career, making 97 runs at 12.12, but is yet to represent Australia in the format.

However, Labuschagne is keen to star in all three formats for his country if he gets the chance.

"By no means do I want to limit myself to only those two formats. I definitely have ambition to play T20 cricket for Australia," he said in a video interview.

"Obviously my opportunities have been minimal and with the schedule it doesn't look like there might be too many other opportunities in that actual format.

"For me, it's about just scoring runs in one-day cricket and Test cricket for Australia and if I get opportunities down the road to make sure I take them.

"I think by no means do I want to restrict myself to being only a two-format player, I think there's definitely ambition and drive to play T20 cricket."

In 14 Tests, Labuschagne has already made 1,459 runs, while he already has an ODI ton in just seven games.

But the South Africa-born batsman said he felt no pressure to continue delivering.

"For me it's just about making sure that my processes, that I'm prepared, that I understand what the game requires and then to make decisions upon that," Labuschagne said.

"If that means that I get runs then that's great, and if that means I miss out for me it's just about going back to the chalkboard and understanding my game and making sure I continue to learn from that."

Labuschagne added 85 runs to his overnight score at the SCG and looked at ease until he spooned a catch back to Todd Astle on 215, his highest first-class score.

Tim Paine contributed 35 in a 79-run stand with the world's fourth-ranked Test batsman but the captain's exit led to the loss of five wickets for 44 runs as Australia were dismissed for 454.

New Zealand turned the momentum into a promising batting response, with openers Tom Latham (26) and Tom Blundell (34) unbeaten at the close of play on Saturday.

There was early encouragement for the Black Caps thanks to Matthew Wade's ill-advised sweep, the batsman missing a full delivery from Will Somerville (1-99) in the first over of the day.

Matt Henry, continuing to bowl despite fracturing his left thumb on Friday, removed Travis Head for 10 but dislodging Labuschagne and Paine proved more difficult.

The former passed 150 for the third time in five Tests and patiently navigated his way through a long period spent in the 190s.

Colin de Grandhomme (3-78) squeezed an off-cutter between Paine's bat and pad to reduce Australia to 410-6 before Astle (2-111) and Neil Wagner (3-66) cleaned up the last four wickets.

There were signs of spin during the second session, but Blundell and stand-in New Zealand captain Latham displayed commendable concentration after tea.

The openers saw off a threatening spell from Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon's probing off-spin to reach 63-0 after 29 overs.

Blundell did receive a life when Australia's review for caught behind off Cummins went unrewarded, despite a faint mark appearing on the Hot Spot.

The hosts continue to lead by 391 runs and will look to make inroads into New Zealand's top order on day three as they aim to move closer towards a clean sweep of the three-Test series.

The top-order batsman added a further knock of 104 not out to his first-innings score of 204 to help push the hosts closer to victory in the first Test.

With his efforts at Optus Stadium, Labuschagne is just the third Australian to achieve the feat, after Doug Waters in 1969 and Greg Chappell against New Zealand in 1974.

He is the eighth overall to manage it, joining an illustrious list, and the batsman acknowledged his achievements were yet to sink in.

"I've only found out about the club," Labuschagne said. "I haven’t really had time to reflect on it yet. As a player, you never know how special it is until time goes by.

"You get to those periods where you don’t make as many hundreds, and you miss out a few times. You're like geez, remember that day?

"I feel very privileged to be able to be even named with those players in that club."

West Indies duo Brian Lara and Lawrence Rowe, India's Sunil Gavaskar and England's Graham Gooch are among the others to have achieved the feat, with Sir Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara the last to have done it before Labuschagne.

Australia will look to secure victory on the final day in Perth after finishing Saturday needing seven wickets for victory, having been held off by Kraigg Brathwaite's stubborn century in response.

The tourists bowled out Australia for 195 at the MCG on Boxing Day after the hosts had elected to bat first.

Labuschagne's 86-run stand with Travis Head was the best resistance Australia offered as Jasprit Bumrah (4-56), Ravichandran Ashwin (3-35) and Mohammed Siraj (2-40) laid waste to the top of the order.

Joe Burns and Steve Smith went for ducks and Matthew Wade's promising start of 30 off 39 deliveries was undone after a reckless shot off Ashwin.

It marked the first time since November 1984 that Australia failed to reach 200 in consecutive first innings, after they mustered just 191 in the first Test in Adelaide before India's spectacular collapse.

"We had three innocuous dismissals, that we probably didn't need," Labuschagne, who top scored for the hosts with 48 from 132 balls, said.

"Just three frustrating dismissals, and I think all three of those guys were set and were in.

"It's a big job from our batting group, whoever that is on the day – whether that's myself or anyone else in the top order – that we make sure we get the big scores.

"You just know you're going to have to lock in and bat for periods of time. They're bowling really straight lines, you're not getting many runs through the off side, so this is the art of Test cricket, this is why we all love it. Because it's a continual challenge for the bowlers to come up with new ideas to stop the batters scoring and build pressure and that's what they did today.

"Something that we're realising very quickly is people are coming up with new ways, thinking about the game slightly differently. Obviously today, they came out with a heavy leg-side field and bowled very straight and didn't give us any scoring options to the off side.

"So for all our batters, you've just got to keep rolling with the punches, learning the game, understanding what they're doing and take that innings to innings. I think that's the key. As long as we do that as a batting group and learn from that, we're just going to keep getting better and learning."

Labuschagne (108) helped Australia to 274-5 at stumps on day one at the Gabba, where they are unbeaten in their past 31 Tests, on Friday.

The right-hander was dropped twice and punished India, who continued to fight despite their injury woes.

But Matthew Wade (45) and Tim Paine (38 not out) were Australia's next two top scorers, several poor dismissals costing the hosts after they elected to bat first on a warm day, with the captain and Cameron Green (28 not out) unbeaten at stumps.

Thangarasu Natarajan (2-63) and Washington Sundar (1-63) made their Test debuts for India, who were without Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah and Hanuma Vihari from the drawn third Test.

Adding to India's worries, Navdeep Saini (0-21) was sent for scans on a suspected groin injury.

After winning the toss, Australia quickly found themselves 17-2 in a poor start in their bid to win a series that is locked at 1-1.

Rohit Sharma took a great low catch diving to his right from first slip to remove David Warner (1) off Mohammed Siraj (1-51), while Marcus Harris (5) handed Shardul Thakur (1-67) his first Test wicket with a flick straight to Sundar at square leg.

Steve Smith (36) and Labuschagne steadied the innings with a 70-run partnership before the former departed after lunch, caught by Rohit at short midwicket off Sundar.

Labuschagne was given two lives – on 37 and 48 – and he made India pay alongside Wade as Australia looked set to take control of the Test.

Since Labuschagne made his Test debut in October 2018, only New Zealand star Kane Williamson (six) has made more centuries than his five.

But Wade and Labuschagne skied deliveries from Natarajan with pull shots to give India a way back into the Test as Australia were left at 213-5.

Paine and Green were relatively comfortable before the latter was dropped on 19, Thakur spilling a tough return chance, and they got to stumps ahead of an important day two.

West Indies struggled to find answers at Optus Stadium in Perth, taking only the wickets of openers David Warner (5) and Usman Khawaja (65).

Australia, who have lost just one of their past eight Test series, were in trouble early on as Warner's lean streak in the longest format continued when he chopped on from Jayden Seales' wide delivery.

The home side were 9-1 when Labuschagne arrived at the crease, but he and Khawaja set about advancing their side to 72-1 by lunch and then kicked on.

Kyle Mayers gave West Indies a much-needed breakthrough when delivering a perfect ball that caught the edge of Khawaja's bat and was gathered by Joshua Da Silva.

The Khawaja-Labuschagne partnership may have ended at 142 runs, but the latter was not finished there as he struck 16 fours and a six en route to another huge score.

Steve Smith also chipped in with an unbeaten 59 while producing a 142-run stand of his own with Labuschagne, which they will look to build on when play resumes on Thursday.

Magical Marnus

Australia are undefeated in their past 11 Test series against West Indies, winning 10 of those and each of the past eight, and they already look great value to extend that streak.

Labuschagne was undoubtedly the star of the day with his eighth Test ton and he will now look to build on his unbeaten 154, which is the fourth-highest tally of his career.

Weak Warner

West Indies have won their past two Test series and they started well in Perth when sending Warner packing in the fourth over.

That was the Australia opener's fourth successive single figure dismissal in a home Test innings, and he will be grateful that Labuschagne in particular was able to bail him out.

India levelled the four-Test series at 1-1 after completing an eight-wicket victory in Melbourne on Tuesday.

Australia's best score of the series so far came at the MCG, making 200 in the second innings of the loss.

Labuschagne, who is the second leading run-scorer in the series with 129 at 32.25, said India's bowlers deserved credit.

"You don't want to give any excuses or any other reasons for why we're not scoring runs," he told a news conference.

"They've been very good, they've bowled very well and been real consistent so for us it's just making sure we find a way. There's only been four innings so far in this series, some people have only batted three, so for us it's just making sure we keep finding ways to score runs.

"It doesn't have to be pretty, but we've just got to keep grinding and keep finding a way and if we do get in we've got to make sure we get those big scores."

Smith has struggled to begin the series, scoring just 10 runs while being dismissed three times.

But Labuschagne backed the right-hander's quality as Australia prepare for the third Test, which will start in Sydney on Thursday.

"You don't average above 60 after 80-odd games and … he's shown he's so consistent, even from the start of his career to now, he just keeps putting the runs on the board," he said.

"Call it what you want to call it, but not long ago he got two hundreds off 60-odd balls in one-dayers.

"He's not short of runs, maybe he has played a lot of white-ball cricket and he probably hasn't had as much time against the red ball as he would've liked, but that's the reality of cricket and this COVID situation so we've just to keep finding ways, keep hitting lots of balls at training and finding ways to get runs when we get out there."

The top-order batsman is set to face the country of his birth for the first time in red-ball cricket, having been born in Klerksdorp before moving to Brisbane as a child.

Though he scored an ODI century in South Africa in 2020, the chance to face off against the Proteas at The Gabba is an opportunity Labuschagne is relishing.

Dean Elgar revealed the Australian spoke to him in Afrikaans in a bid to throw him off during an English county match in 2019, and the Queensland man would not rule out doing so again on the biggest stage.

"We'll have to wait and see," he said. "I've got no doubt that they're going to throw some curveballs and hopefully the responses can be either funny or none at all.

"I certainly think it's always exciting what this Test holds because it is a little bit closer to my heart, because it's the country where I grew up and where I spent 10 years of my life."

With 927 runs in 16 innings this year, Labuschagne has only been outscored in Test cricket by three other men – team-mate Usman Khawaja and the England pair of Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow.

His form sees him ranked as the top Test batsman by the ICC, and he credits his achievements to his drive to keep bettering himself.

"I am who I am because I am obsessed, and I am obsessive," he added. "I love to try and get better each time and each day.

"I think that part, hopefully it never stops for me because I think that's what makes me who I am."

Number three Labuschagne reached three figures for the first time in the series with a typically diligent 108.

However, he top-edged a pull off debutant seamer Thangarasu Natarajan (2-63) to be pouched by wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant, shortly after Matthew Wade departed to the same bowler for 45.

Like Wade, Steve Smith was guilty of not capitalising on a start when he became Washington Sundar's maiden Test wicket on 36, although Cameron Green (28 not out) and under-fire captain Tim Paine (38no) got the hosts to 274-5 at stumps with the four-match series all square at 1-1.

"Look, all our batters are going to make their own assessment of the way they got out. They're all international players," Labuschagne said.

"You know everyone gets judged harshly. You're your own harshest critic and everyone will look at their dismissals and say, 'What could I have done better?'

"I'm definitely disappointed about not going on and getting a really big score that would have put us in a better position as a team.

"We'll still take the position we're in, it was really nice to see Greeny and Tim finish it off there when we did lose two wickets in quick succession."

Injuries have laid waste to India's plans over the course of the series and Natarajan and Sundar featured for the first time in the longest format as key men Ravichandran Ashwin and Jasprit Bumrah were ruled out.

It meant learning on the fly against unfamiliar opposition, although it was a challenge Labuschagne relished.

"Definitely I had to formulate some plans on the run and keep trying to understand the situation, what they were doing. That's the part of the game that is really enjoyable." he said when considering an India attack that was further compromised by the loss of Navdeep Saini to a groin injury after only 7.5 overs.

"You've got to read the situation out there. You can look at stuff on a screen and see how guys bowl but only you know out there, with a feel of how you can do things and how you can make things easier. "

Not for the first time, Smith was the centre of controversy for alleged gamesmanship on the final day of the drawn third Test, but Labuschagne failed to spot any ill-effects as the pair shared a stand of 70 for the third wicket.

"I don't think when he walks out onto the field that stuff really concerns him. He's focusing on the ball and scoring runs," he added.

"If anything it gives him extra motivation to put big runs on the board. I don't think that stuff comes into play when he's out there at all."