Why Marnus Labuschagne Was Picked In Australia Test Squad Vs South Africa, Reason Revealed

Labuschagne was picked by Australia despite poor numbers [Source: AFP]

Australia announced its 16-member Test squad for the South Africa tour on Monday, and in a surprising turn of events, out-of-form batter Marnus Labuschagne retained his place. The Aussie number 3 failed to deliver the goods against Bangladesh, and he was expected to be dropped from the Test side against the Proteas.

Despite poor numbers against Bangladesh, where his scores read: 1, 31 and 4 in the three innings that he played, the right-handed batter was shown confidence by chief selector George Bailey.

Bailey confident in Labuschagne despite poor form

Labuschagne has faced a lot of scrutiny for his poor numbers in the last few months, and eyebrows were raised when the struggling player was selected for the all-important away tour of South Africa.

Chief selector George Bailey also received flak, but the former Australian captain backed his decision as he expects Labuschagne to make a positive impact during next month’s South Africa tour.

At the same time, Bailey asserted that despite getting picked in the main team, there is no guarantee that the 32-year-old will get a place in the playing XI.

"We are not shying away from the fact that we'd like some more runs from Marnus. That's clear, but we're also confident that he can still make a positive contribution to that squad," Bailey said on Monday.

"I think our batting group in its entirety, not just Marnus, probably hasn't been functioning as successfully as we would like, but also not shying away from the fact that we've continued to win a lot of Test matches over that period.

ODI snub to help Labuschagne better prepare for South Africa Tests

A couple of days ago, Australia also announced its ODI squad for the series against Zimbabwe and South Africa, and luck was not with Labuschagne as the batter was snubbed by the selectors as he didn’t get a place in the team.

Bailey, however, is hopeful that getting overlooked for the ODIs will indeed help the struggling batter, as he can now solely focus on delivering in one format.

Also Read: Pat Cummins Reveals Where Marnus Labuschagne Stands In Australia's Plans

"I think Marn (Labuschagne) will continue to prepare and refine how he will prepare for this series," Bailey added.

"Clearly there's potentially a simplification or an ability to focus purely on red-ball cricket for him in the fact that he won't be in the one day series leading up to it. So that may be a benefit.

Why were question marks raised over Labuschagne's place in Tests?

What started as a promising Test career slowly went downhill after the Ashes 2023 season. The Queensland player was at the peak of his powers from 2019 to 2022, and during that period, he averaged nearly 60 in Tests.

However, since the Ashes in 2023, things have taken a drastic turn as Labuschagne has struggled to score big in red-ball cricket. It was in July 2023 that the batter last scored a century in Tests, and since then, he has averaged 24.69 in 43 Test innings.

In 2025, he averaged just 20.85 in Tests, and this year, the Australian number 3 batter has scored just 121 runs in three matches, with an average of 24.20.

As a result, his place in the red-ball side has come under scrutiny, but at least for the South Africa tour, his place in the team is safe.

Also Read: India Led By Harmanpreet Kaur, Won't Take Asia Cup Trophy From Mohsin Naqvi; Decision Made