'As good as it gets': Aussie plucks Ashes screamer

Marnus Labuschagne's spectacular catch has left a man regarded as among the best-ever slips fielders gobsmacked.

Labuschagne has taken a one-handed screamer as Australia push towards an Ashes victory against England in Adelaide.

Fielding at second slip, Labuschagne dived low to his left and, at full stretch, plucked a catch centimetres off the turf to dismiss Englishman Ollie Pope.

Labuschagne wildly took off in celebration as teammates tried to converge after his brilliant feat from skipper Pat Cummins' bowling.

"What a catch," Australia's retired great Mark Waugh, world-renowned for his slips catching, said in commentary on Fox Cricket.

"A great catch. Low to his left, the ball dropping all the time ... that is as good as it gets; that is as good a slips catch as you can take, don't worry about that."

Labuschagne, who also took a sharp catch at second slip to dismiss Ben Duckett earlier in England's second innings, was asked to explain his feat when interviewed at a drinks break.

"There's not much to tell," he said.

"It was just one of those ones you sort of sit back after the catch and try and work out how it happened.

"It happened so quickly it feels like a little bit of blur at the moment."