Test batter admits Vic quick’s first-day gesture ‘got him going’ to reignite Victoria-Queensland rivalry
The mysterious hand gesture brought to public attention by Steve Smith during the Ashes was the spark for a Sheffield Shield spat that fired up Queensland captain Marnus Labuschagne at the MCG on Friday.
Labuschagne was left to rue letting a big score go begging after he was out hooking for 41 in the Bulls’ second innings, admitting he took some extra motivation into Friday’s knock after earning a send-off from Sam Elliott when he was out for 10 the previous day.
The Elliott-Labuschagne beef bubbled along on day two of the Shield contest after the Victoria paceman, having turned to face Labuschagne, mimicked the hand gesture Smith had used during his heated run-in with Jofra Archer at the Gabba in December.
Elliott, whose two wickets in a testing afternoon spell took his season tally to 22 at 13.63, had a lengthy exchange of words with Labuschagne after he dismissed Lachlan Hearne.
Labuschagne then picked up the thread with his opposing skipper, Peter Handscomb, at which point both umpires rounded on the batter and appeared to lightly tell him to tone it down.
But Labsuchagne’s frustrating summer, in which he dominated domestic cricket during its early stages but then passed fifty just once during the Ashes, continued when he top-edged a hook to one of three waiting square fielders on the leg-side boundary.
“We had a little bit of a tussle out there,” said Labuschagne.
“It’s a contest. Fair play – to get a wicket, you can do what you want. But it certainly doesn’t mean it doesn’t get you up when you get back out there again. There’s always a bit of verbals here when we play Victoria.
“You don’t need to get me in the mood to play. I want to be here. But it certainly gets you up and going, it gets you in the contest. There’s a little bit of chat here and there. Pete and I are throwing a few words at each other occasionally.
“That’s what we want Shield cricket to be. We want it to be tough, we want it to be a contest. At the end of the day, whichever team has the best skills wins.”
Elliott suggested the Victoria-Queensland rivalry went back to the era of his father Matthew, who played 21 Tests for Australia through the 1990s and early 2000s and has the second highest Sheffield Shield run tally for Victoria.
“It was just a bit of banter, a bit of back and forth,” said the younger Elliott. “(Marnus) was just letting me know that he didn’t appreciate what I did there (in the first innings), so I just said, ‘It’s all part of the game’.
“I wouldn’t call it a send off. But it was just a bit of banter, a bit of carry on from both of us.”
Jake Weatherald earlier in the summer suggested the hand signal used by Elliott this week had its origins with Daniel Drew, Weatherald’s former South Australia teammate who acted as a 12th man during the Test series.
“I know a lot of blokes from South Australia use it,” Weatherald told cricket.com.au’s Unplayable Podcast in December.
“I think it just means ‘rest’ (or) ‘have a rest, have a spell’. I think that’s the gist of it. I know a lot of SACA boys do it. Daniel Drew, he’s the guy that does it quite a lot and couldn’t believe it happened (in a Test).”
But Smith insisted he had used it as a signal to himself about his bottom-hand grip, not a gesture to the bowler.
“I’m not giving signals to anyone,” Smith said at the end of the Test series against England.
“It’s myself actually, it’s how I know my hand is on the bat, particularly when I play a straight drive or an on-drive.
“It’s how I want my hand to be on the bat with my right hand. It’s just a thing that I do like all the other random things that I do.”
Sheffield Shield 2025-26 standings
Team
Matches played
M
Wins
W
Losses
L
Drawn
D
No results
N/R
Deductions
Ded.
Batting Bonus
Bat
Bowling Bonus
Bowl
Total points
PTS
1
VIC
6
5
1
0
0
0
5.87
5.3
41.17
2
QLD
6
2
2
2
0
0
8.18
4.2
26.38
3
SA
6
2
2
2
0
0
4.69
5.6
24.29
4
NSW
6
2
3
1
0
0
4.65
4.9
22.55
5
TAS
6
2
3
1
0
2
3.34
5
19.34
6
WA
6
1
3
2
0
0
1.61
5.5
15.11
Legend
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
D: Drawn
N/R: No results
Ded.: Deductions
Bat: Batting Bonus
Bowl: Bowling Bonus
PTS: Total points
