Marnus Labuschagne’s once-gleaming one-day career has hit a brutal crossroads, with the batter axed from Australia’s ODI squad even as selectors insist his Test future remains alive.
The 32-year-old has been left out of the white-ball touring party for Zimbabwe and South Africa, a squad clearly framed with next year’s ODI World Cup in mind. Six one-dayers on the road, two countries, one eye on a global tournament – and no place for a man who, not long ago, was ranked by the ICC as the best Test batter on the planet.
Now he sits equal 38th in those Test rankings, averaging under 30 in the format since that 2023 peak. The slide has been sharp, and the latest call underlines it.
ODI door shuts – for now
Labuschagne was one of five players cut from the side that faced Bangladesh in Australia’s most recent ODI in June. On Tuesday, selectors named a 17-man group for the Zimbabwe and South Africa series, making it clear that the Test squad for the three-match series against the Proteas in October will be named later.
George Bailey, the chair of selectors, stressed that the decision was strictly about one-day cricket.
“It was a one-day cricket conversation, this is a pretty important tool for us. It’s hard to get the link, but Zimbabwe and South Africa, that’s where the World Cup will be played late next year,” Bailey said, underlining the strategic nature of the squad.
Australia have limited 50-over fixtures before that tournament. Every game, every role, every selection spot matters.
“There’s not a whole lot of games, and the opportunity that’s well-deserved and awarded to some of those other players to continue building out their roles and their performances in those games would be really important.
“And Marn, again, he’s played some really important one-day cricket for us at his best. That looks a certain way. But the way that squad and team is structuring up, there just wasn’t space for him.”
No sugar-coating. No fringe role. Simply no room.
Test future in limbo
The more complicated question sits in the red-ball space.
Labuschagne was already on the edge of the Test XI ahead of last summer’s Ashes before a strong start to the Sheffield Shield dragged him back into the fold. He survived then. This time, the timing is cruel: he will not have the chance to play a game for Queensland before the Test squad to face South Africa is named later this month.
His recent numbers don’t help his case. He averaged 25 in last summer’s Ashes, then followed up with scores of 1, 31 and 4 in the Tests against Bangladesh. For a player who built his reputation on relentless consistency, those returns sting.
Bailey, though, is in no rush to close that chapter.
“It’s just about not having to make a decision until you need to make a decision,” he said, outlining a more patient approach to the Test call.
“[We are] still working closely just around as much information as we can around what potentially the wickets we might expect to get in South Africa and what those conditions might look like, some final pieces of the puzzle in terms of some of the some of the fitness around some guys and just what they’re working through, some individuals in that basket, and then probably just landing on the number of players and roles.”
In other words, the Test jigsaw is still on the table. Labuschagne hasn’t been pushed off it yet, but his spot is no longer guaranteed.
New blood steps in
While one era faces a hard question, another begins to take shape.
Oliver Peake, the 19-year-old Victorian left-hander who became the youngest specialist batter to debut for Australia’s ODI side earlier this year, keeps his place and his momentum. So does Joel Davies, the 22-year-old allrounder from NSW who made his Australia debut in the T20s against Bangladesh in June.
Bailey made it clear the selectors see both as central to the next phase.
“For Ollie and Joel, who we rate very highly, it’s another fantastic opportunity and a further chance for them to continue their exposure and growth in the Australian team.”
The message is stark. Australia are building for a World Cup with youth and flexibility, not reputation.
Labuschagne, once the heartbeat of Australia’s batting, now waits on a different verdict: whether his Test game, under pressure and short of runs, still fits into a side planning for a brutal three-Test scrap in South Africa starting 9 October.
