Stuart Broad Reveals What Caused Ben Stokes and Marnus Labuschagne Heated Row
Stuart Broad has revealed what caused the on-field row between Ben Stokes and Marnus Labuschagne after speaking to the England captain.
Tempers flared on the second day of the fifth Ashes Test as Stokes and Labuschagne clashed in a furious incident.
Labuschagne and Travis Head put on a terrific partnership, frustrating England's seamers, including Stokes who brought himself on to bowl towards the end of the evening session.
With 30 minutes left to play, Stokes became increasingly infuriated by Labuschagne, who appeared to slow play down to see Australia through to stumps.
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On a number of occasions, Labuschagne asked the umpires to check the light meter and was seen gardening the SCG wicket.
At one point, Labuschagne appeared to distract Stokes during his run-up.
After Head struck Stokes' delivery for four at the end of the 29th over, he walked past the Aussie duo at the crease before turning back to Labuschagne.
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Stokes and Labuschagne were involved in a furious spat, with the England star appearing to tell his rival to 'shut the f**k up'.
Broad spoke to the 34-year-old skipper on the morning of the third day and revealed what led to the frosty interaction.
Speaking on Channel 7, Broad called Labuschagne's antics a 'mistake', saying: "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. 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.
"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 said, 'We've got two umpires out here, we don't need three'.
"So 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."
Broad added: "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."
Stokes had the laugh last as he dismissed Labuschagne for 48.
Australia lead England by 134 runs after ending on 518-7 at stumps on day three.
Nasir Jabbar