England Great Pins Blame On Marnus Labuschagne After Ugly Spat With Ben Stokes, Reveals Who Said What

England captain Ben Stokes and Australia batter Marnus Labuschagne were involved in a heated confrontation on Day 2 of the fifth Ashes Test in Sydney. The verbal spat even led to Stokes putting his arm around Labuschagne's neck as the two exchanged words. Moments later, Stokes dismissed Labuschagne and gave the Australian batter a firm glare. Former England pacer Stuart Broad later revealed the details of the argument between Stokes and Labuschagne after a chat with the England captain.

"I think it was a mistake from Marnus Labuschagne, to be honest, to rev up Ben Stokes, one of the great competitors of all time, really, and Stokes had the ball in his hand," Broad said, speaking on 7Cricket.

Broad suggested that Labuschagne was possibly trying to delay proceedings. He revealed that he had had a conversation with Stokes regarding the incident, and that the England captain had not crossed the line.

"I think there was a bit of a delaying tactic, I think Labuschagne was maybe talking quite a bit out there, particularly to Travis Head, his partner," Broad said.

"I've chatted to Stokes this morning. I'm not breaking any trust by saying this. It was Marnus who was saying, 'Oh, that's going down a leg, or that's four runs', and he (Stokes) said, 'We've got two umpires out here, we don't need three'," he added.

Broad stated that Labuschagne's tactics ultimately came back to bite him, as the confrontation eventually led to him getting out an over later.

"It was all quite polite, but what happens is, it got Labuschagne out of his bubble, and that's a plan of England, get him out of routines, and the next ball Ben Stokes bowls, he drives at one that's a bit wide, moves away, and he's out.

"It sort of worked for England, for Ben Stokes to get into that competitive spirit, but I thought it was a poor play from Marnus, because Marnus was playing as nicely as he had done in the series," Broad further said.

Unfortunately for Stokes and England, Australia batted out the entirety of Day 3 to take a commanding 134-run lead. Travis Head amassed 163, while stand-in skipper Steve Smith remained unbeaten on 129, taking Australia to 518/7 in response to England's first innings score of 384.

Stokes endured a wicketless Day 3, having initially taken the first two wickets of the Australian innings.

Topics mentioned in this article

Stuart Broad Ben Stokes Marnus Labuschagne England Cricket Team Cricket Australia Cricket Team Australia vs England, Ashes 2025-26