One of Australia’s most high-profile Test batters, Marnus Labuschagne, has retained his place in the 16-man national squad for next month’s three-Test tour of South Africa, even as he continues to navigate a prolonged slump in run-scoring that has sparked questions over his future in the side.
The 32-year-old, who was born in South Africa and rose to global fame as a key part of Australia’s 2023 Ashes retention, has not recorded a century in international Test cricket since that 2023 series against England. His most recent outing, a two-Test home series against Bangladesh last month, only amplified concerns over his form: Labuschagne posted scores of 1, 31 and 4 across the two matches, failing to hit a significant total to turn his form around.
Following that underwhelming Bangladesh series, Labuschagne was dropped from Australia’s one-day international squads for upcoming white-ball tours of Zimbabwe and South Africa, leading to widespread speculation that his place in the Test side could also be at risk. But Australia’s chief selector George Bailey has pushed back on calls to drop the experienced batter, confirming selectors are holding onto faith that he can rebound.
“We’re not shying away from the fact that we’d like some more runs from Marn… but we’re also confident that he can still make a positive contribution to that squad,” Bailey told reporters. He added that the entire Australian batting unit, not just Labuschagne, has underperformed in recent matches, saying: “Our batting group in its entirety… probably hasn’t been functioning as successfully as we would like.”
When asked whether this South African tour would represent Labuschagne’s last chance to prove his worth to the national side, Bailey stopped short of labeling it a make-or-break series: “No, I wouldn’t say that. But again, it’s a hypothetical, isn’t it?”
This tour marks a major milestone for Australian cricket, as it will be the team’s first Test series held in South Africa since the infamous 2018 “Sandpapergate” ball-tampering scandal that shook the global cricket community. During the third Test of that 2018 series, then-captain Steve Smith and vice-captain David Warner were caught orchestrating a plot to damage the ball with sandpaper to gain an unfair bowling advantage. Both players received year-long international bans in the wake of the scandal, and Australia went on to lose the series 3-1.
Of the 16 players named to the 2025 squad, only six – current captain Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon, Steve Smith and Matt Renshaw – remain from the 2018 touring side that was caught up in the scandal. Aside from Labuschagne, three younger players – Cooper Connolly, Matthew Kuhnemann and Michael Neser – also earned call-ups to the squad, which is otherwise unchanged from the group that faced Bangladesh last month.
The series is scheduled to kick off on 9 October with the first Test in Durban, before moving to Gqeberha for the second Test and wrapping up with the third match in Cape Town.
Full 16-man Australia Test Squad: Pat Cummins (captain), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster