Wednesday, 22 January 2020:
 | | MARNUS LABUSCHAGNE of Australia during the Specsavers Ashes Test between England and Australia at Old Trafford in Manchester, England. | |
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Sick of "ranting and raving", Brisbane coach Darren Lehmann hopes Marnus Labuschagne's injection will provide a quick fix to the Heat's frequent batting collapses in Thursday's must win Big Bash League clash with Sydney Sixers.
Lehmann admitted he had delivered some fearful sprays during an inconsistent season which appeared to reach its lowest ebb when they lost a record 10-36 in Sunday's 44-run home defeat to Melbourne Renegades.
But Lehmann was confident form Australian batsman Labuschagne would provide a welcome shot in the arm for the sixth-placed Brisbane outfit as they vie for a top five finals spot with three games left.
Labuschagne has been rushed into the Heat squad for the Gabba clash at the expense of Jack Prestwidge after a stunning summer in which he averaged 63.43 in Tests and 50 on Australia's just completed one-day international tour of India.
Lehmann was coy on batting line-up changes against a Sixers outfit welcoming Steve Smith's return but confirmed Labuschagne would feature in the middle order to bolster their faltering team.
"As a batsman he has been high class all summer so I expect him to come in and do his role and do it well (and) if we do that then we can make enough runs," Lehmann said.
"He's obviously been the form player of the summer.
"We have bowled well all tournament but our batting has been up and down - we have to find that consistency now."
Lehmann admitted he had not held back after some of the Heat's woeful batting displays.
Besides their Renegades capitulation, they have also lost 7-51 against Perth, 5-30 against Sydney Thunder and 5-45 against Melbourne Stars while chasing.
And batting first against Adelaide Strikers on January 17, they also lost 5-11.
"They have had a couple of those (sprays) but as a group we speak about it and try and come up with solutions to try to rectify it and make sure we learn from it," Lehmann said.
"I am a bit over the ranting and raving these days.
"As a batting unit we have to be better than that, once we had that start (against Renegades) we should have gone on with it.
"It's a mental side of the game that has got to change a little bit. They are getting themselves in good position but it has been a disappointing finish for us."
While Lehmann admitted that Brisbane let their fans down on Sunday, he was not reaching for the panic button thanks to Labuschagne's arrival.
"I am sure we will come back and we have some class players and Marnus is that," he said.
"I am not pressing the panic button. We just need to perform better under pressure.
"But everyone has to step up as a batting group."
