Marnus Labuschagne is the big early winner in the contest for Ashes top-order berths.

Dropped after June’s World Test Championship final, Labuschagne continued to make a strong case for an Australian recall when he top-scored with 160 for Queensland in their Sheffield Shield match against Tasmania.

As Labuschagne starred on Monday at Allan Border Field, on the other side of the country young gun Sam Konstas had his second failure for NSW in their match against WA.

Konstas, the incumbent Test opener alongside Usman Khawaja, was dismissed for 14 after making four in the first innings.

Labuschagne’s first-innings Shield ton, with Australian selector George Bailey watching, followed his one-day century last month for Queensland.

His big Shield innings was not flawless — he was dropped on

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