Glamorgan's Labuschagne excited by Ingram pairing

Video caption, Marnus Labuschagne hopes Glamorgan can make him world's best batter again

Marnus Labuschagne says he is 鈥渆xcited鈥 to play alongside in-form batter Colin Ingram on his Glamorgan return against Middlesex.

Labuschagne, 28, will be making his first appearance of the season for the Welsh county on Friday after signing on for a further two seasons in September 2023.

Labuschagne and South African batter Ingram, Division Two鈥檚 leading run scorer, are the two overseas players featuring in the match, with Pakistan bowler Mir Hamza rested after taking seven wickets in the win over Sussex.

Only two official overseas players are allowed to play in any match.

Exciting line-up

鈥淚 can鈥檛 wait,鈥 said Labuschagne, who arrived back in Wales earlier this week.

鈥淚 haven鈥檛 played for a while so you鈥檙e always itching to get out there and there will be some nerves flowing but it鈥檒l be good to be back.

鈥淚鈥檝e known Colin for a long time but I鈥檝e never actually played with Col in red ball cricket.

鈥淗e鈥檚 firing really well at number 5 and Kiran [Carlson] and Sam [Northeast] are batting beautifully at 4 and 3, so it鈥檚 really exciting to see a line-up of batters like the one we鈥檙e going to see [against Middlesex].

鈥淐olin is at that age [38] where he knows his game so well and playing beautifully.

Originally signing for Glamorgan as a relatively little-known international player, Labuschagne hit 1,114 Championship runs in 2019 to earn a starring role in the Ashes series that summer.

He then rose to become the top-rated batter in the world during his time at the Welsh county.

鈥淚鈥檓 super motivated, as I always have been, I want to be the best, I鈥檝e said that before,鈥 added Labuschagne.

鈥淚 want to be the best batter in the world. At the moment, in the last year, I just haven鈥檛 been at my best and for me it鈥檚 just finding that rhythm and being able to use Glamorgan to find that rhythm and score runs鈥 and make sure the team is winning games and that鈥檚 really my objective.

鈥淚 love the club and I want to do something great with the club and see that journey progress in to Division One.

鈥淲e鈥檝e been so close a few years but hopefully this year can be the year we can do it鈥.