• Home
  • Match Hub
  • Watch Ben Stokes Puts His Arm Around Labuschagnes Neck During Ugly Sydney Fight

[Watch] Ben Stokes puts his arm around Labuschagne's neck during ugly Sydney fight

Abhinav Tyagi

Ben Stokes and Marnus Labuschagne - (Source: ScreenGrab/X.com)Ben Stokes and Marnus Labuschagne - (Source: ScreenGrab/X.com)

On Monday, January 5, the second day of the fifth Ashes Test began at the Sydney Cricket Ground. England, strong after Day 1, finished their innings with 384 runs. Australia replied with 166/2 at stumps, driven by a 105-run partnership between Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne.

Head is nearing another century and remains unbeaten on 91 (87). Meanwhile, Marnus Labuschange, who struggled in the entire series, missed out on a well-deserved fifty. England skipper Ben Stokes got rid of the right-handed batter, and the Australia star batter returned to the pavilion scoring 48 (68), which featured seven boundaries. 

Ben Stokes and Marnus Labuschagne involved in heated exchange

The England captain was on fire and was also involved in a heated exchange with Labuschagne. Cricket Australia have released a video where Stokes, who had conceded two boundaries in his over, was walking back and heard something said by Labuschagne. The star all-rounder turned back and didn’t shy away from confronting the Australia top-order batter.

Notably, on the 5th and 6th balls of the 29th over, Travis Head slammed Stokes for consecutive boundaries, which left Stokes frustrated. Eventually, he also wrapped his hand around Labuschagne’s neck, and the two had a heated moment in the game. 

Eventually the umpires intervened and seperated the two stars as thing could have turned ugly. Words were exchanged from both ends but the actual reason behind heated exchange is not known yet. 

Ben Stokes the lone warrior for England in 5th Test

Despite the Sydney Test being a dead rubber, the ongoing Test means a lot for England as they seek a complimentary win and finish the series on a high. Australia already the lead the 3-1, but the Three Lions can bounce back and make it 3-2.

In the ongoing Test, England have dealt a lot of blows and are without star bowlers in the Sydney Test. Therefore, Ben Stokes stepped up and picked up two crucial wickets. Stokes was putting his 100% in and this where the frustration creeped in when he conceded two consecutive fours.

At present, no player has dropped any update on the altercation, but the ICC match referee is likely to intervene and punish them.