Australian selectors have doubled down on Marnus Labuschagne, backing the out-of-form batter for next month’s Test tour of South Africa while quietly weighing up a reshuffle that could send Steve Smith back to No 3.
Sixteen players were named on Monday for the three-Test series starting in Durban on 9 October, the same core group that beat Bangladesh in Mackay. Fast bowler Michael Neser, left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann and middle-order batter Cooper Connolly come in as additions, tightening the squeeze on places in a batting order already under scrutiny.
Labuschagne backed – but on notice
Labuschagne keeps his spot as the incumbent first-drop, despite a prolonged lean patch that has turned one of 2023’s premier Test batters into one of Australia’s biggest question marks.
George Bailey did not pretend otherwise.
“[We’re] not shying away from the fact that we’d like some more runs from Marn [Labuschagne], that’s clear,” the chair of selectors said, while stressing that the panel still believes “he can still make a positive contribution to that squad”.
Labuschagne’s numbers tell the story. Once ICC’s top-ranked Test batter in 2023, he has not reached three figures since the 2023 Ashes. He averaged 25 in that series and followed it with scores of 1, 31 and 4 in the recent home Tests against Bangladesh.
This tour shapes as a crossroads. At 32, with his place no longer untouchable, he will be fighting not just the South African attack but the growing claims of others.
One small twist may help him. Labuschagne has been left out of the ODI squad for the preceding white-ball series, leaving him free to focus solely on red-ball preparation.
“Clearly, there’s potentially a simplification or an ability to focus purely on red ball cricket for him,” Bailey said. “You know Marn, he’ll prepare incredibly well and specifically for this tour.”
Smith at three again?
The bigger structural question sits just above and around him. Smith, who has spent long stretches of his career at No 3, is firmly in the frame for a return to that role. That would trigger a domino effect through the order, with Travis Head another moving piece.
Bailey made it clear nothing is off the table.
“They’re all questions that’ll be on the table and that’s probably the consideration, isn’t it?” he said. “Any time you do make a move, it’s what are you taking away from where they are performing, and that’s always going to be a question, particularly around Travis.
The success that he had at five, but also the success he has had at the top, and what he provides to the structure of the team there.
Smith’s record at first-drop is formidable. He has “batted at three for a large part of his career,” Bailey noted, “hasn’t done it for a little while and has had success there, so absolutely, that’ll be a conversation at some point.”
The message is clear: the incumbent at No 3 has backing, but the shadow of Smith’s old role looms large.
Connolly waits in the wings
Waiting just behind is Cooper Connolly, 23 years old and increasingly hard to ignore. Officially, he is listed as a middle-order option, but his presence alone raises the temperature around Labuschagne’s spot.
Connolly has only one Test to his name, in Sri Lanka last year, but already has exposure in T20 and ODI cricket. He will be in South Africa ahead of the Tests for the ODI series, part of a squad named last week that notably did not include Labuschagne.
At domestic level, Connolly’s numbers are building nicely. He scored 216 runs at an average of 31 for Western Australia in last season’s Sheffield Shield, but his broader first-class record is stronger: 42 from 13 matches in the middle order.
He and Josh Inglis will be the main challengers for a batting berth if Australia decide to shake things up.
One warm-up, many auditions
Before the first ball in Durban, Australia have just one serious hit-out: a warm-up match in Potchefstroom. For Labuschagne, it doubles as a form trial. For everyone else, it is a scramble to fine-tune and, for a few, to force a selection meeting to run long.
“There’ll be a handful of guys that cross over from the one-day series, there’s seven or eight, I think, that are coming over specifically for the Test tour,” Bailey said. “So I think partly it’ll be about just making sure that everyone’s getting the prep they need to be ready for the first Test.”
Neser and Kuhnemann will jostle for bowling roles, Connolly for a batting slot, Inglis for a chance to squeeze into the XI. Every innings, every spell in Potchefstroom will carry weight.
For now, though, the most scrutinised bat in the squad belongs to Labuschagne. Australia have chosen loyalty over ruthlessness, at least for one more tour. South Africa will reveal whether that faith still has a future.
