{
  "id": 17639106,
  "title": "CLeave all the nonsense': AB de Villiers blames Marnus Labuschagne's struggles on falling into a 'trap' of copying Steve Smith",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/01/cleave-all-the-nonsense-ab-de-villiers-blames-marnus-labuschagnes",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-11-01T16:48:27.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Yahoo Sports",
    "slug": "yahoo-sports",
    "url": "https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/cleave-nonsense-ab-villiers-blames-164827628.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "AB de Villiers has accused Marnus Labuschagne of falling into a trap of copying Steve Smith's batting style, which he believes is causing the Australian batsman's struggles. De Villiers, who captained South Africa, says Labuschagne's technique is sound, but the problem is mental. Despite scoring 131 runs in six innings during the recent South Africa tour, Labuschagne failed to convert his starts into centuries, finishing with scores of 0 and 4. De Villiers suggests Labuschagne has spent too much energy on imitating Smith's mannerisms, such as the crab walk and lightsaber leave, rather than developing his own approach. The Australian captain also attributes Labuschagne's decline to the pressure from past players, the media, and selectors.",
  "summary": "After Marnus Labuschagne had another horrible series in South Africa, former Proteas great AB De Villiers blamed the No.3 batters habit it copying Steve Smith.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 6,
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  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}