Marnus Labuschagne has not made a Test hundred since the 111 he compiled against England at Old Trafford in July 2023. In the 43 innings since, he has averaged 24.69. On Sunday, Australia’s selectors looked at that number and picked him anyway.
The 32-year-old was named in a 16-man squad for next month’s three-Test tour of South Africa, surviving a summer of speculation that had grown louder with each failure against Bangladesh — scores of 1, 31 and 4 in a series Australia drew 1-1, and in which Cameron Green, not Labuschagne, was the leading run-scorer with 184.
Pat Cummins captains a group that adds Cooper Connolly, left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann and seamer Michael Neser to the side that played the second Test in Mackay. Todd Murphy is the notable casualty, overlooked as the second spinner behind Nathan Lyon. Matthew Renshaw keeps his place as Travis Head’s opening partner.
Selectors back the player, not the numbers
Chair of selectors George Bailey made no attempt to dress up the form line.
“Not shying away from the fact we’d like some more runs from Marn, that’s clear,” Bailey said. “But we’re also confident he can still make a positive contribution to that squad.”
He also widened the lens, pointing out that Labuschagne is not the only Australian batter under scrutiny: “Our batting group in its entirety probably hasn’t been functioning as successfully as we would like.”
That context matters. Labuschagne’s retention is less a vote of confidence in current output than an admission that the alternatives have not forced the issue. His career record — 65 Tests, 4,730 runs at 43.79 with 11 centuries — still carries weight in a middle order being rebuilt around Steve Smith, Head and Green. Yet the selectors have been willing to move him on elsewhere: he was left out of all six ODIs on this tour, three against Zimbabwe in Harare and three against South Africa.
On the squad’s shape, Bailey was more expansive. “This is a reasonably condensed three-game series, on the back of six one-day internationals, with only short breaks between each game,” he said. “The squad provides balance and options for each Test and the variety of conditions we may face.”
A homecoming, and a return to Newlands
There is a neat symmetry to where Labuschagne has been asked to rediscover himself. He was born in Klerksdorp and spent the first 10 years of his life in South Africa before his family emigrated to Queensland. He has never played a Test there. Neser, another of the squad’s South African-born contingent, is in the same position.
The tour carries heavier baggage than one batter’s form. This is Australia’s first Test tour of South Africa in eight years — the last, in 2018, ended in a 3-1 defeat and the sandpaper scandal at Newlands that cost Smith and David Warner their careers for a year and Darren Lehmann his job. The series finishes at that same ground.
The itinerary is unforgiving:
- First Test: Kingsmead, Durban, 9-13 October
- Second Test: St George’s Park, Gqeberha, 18-22 October
- Third Test: Newlands, Cape Town, 27-31 October
Three Tests in 23 days, with the ODI series immediately preceding them, explains the inclusion of Kuhnemann and Neser as much as any tactical calculation. Gqeberha and Cape Town have both offered spin in recent seasons; Durban traditionally turns from day two.
The World Test Championship stakes
Australia arrive as the standings leaders, beaten once in eight matches this cycle. South Africa arrive as the holders, having beaten Australia in the 2025 final at Lord’s — a result Temba Bavuma’s side have not stopped being reminded of, and one Cummins’ team have not forgotten.
For Australia, this is the first of three defining assignments: South Africa away, four Tests at home against second-placed New Zealand, then India away early next year. Losing in South Africa would not end their qualification hopes, but it would remove the margin they have spent 18 months building.
For Labuschagne, the equation is narrower and more brutal. Six innings, most likely, against a bowling attack operating in home conditions. Another lean series and the selectors will have exhausted the argument that kept him in this squad. A hundred at Kingsmead, Gqeberha or Newlands, and three years of noise stops in an afternoon.
Bailey has bought him time. South Africa will decide what he does with it.
Sports journalist and editor at SportsPortal.net. Covers cricket, football, Formula 1, tennis, and basketball with a focus on how global sports connect with Pakistani audiences. Follows the PSL, Pakistan national cricket team, Premier League, and major international tournaments. Has reported on sports for digital audiences since 2021.
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