A horror outing in Perth

Australia's No.3 scored two and three in the side's first and second innings respectively in the opening Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. In the first, he chewed up 52 deliveries as wickets fell around him and Australia unravelled after bowling India out for 150. In the second, with Pat Cummins having fallen trying protect him before the end of play on day three, Labuschagne lasted just five deliveries before he became the third casualty to fall in the 4.2 overs Australia had to bat before stumps. The method of dismissal was equally troubling to its timing, having left a ball which hit him on the knee roll of his back leg and lost his balance in the process.

Following the match, Cummins said told the media in a press conference: "Marn, along with quite a few other guys in the team, didn't have the week we would have wanted. It's no secret how hard the batters, particularly Marn, work in the nets. He's always trying to find those small marginal gains. This week will be a lot of conversation with the coaches around his approach and what he could be doing differently.

"This is a sample size of one. Four or five days ago we thought this was our best XI. So I dare say there won't be many changes going into Adelaide, but I'm not a selector. I'm sure they'll get together after the game. We've got a bit of work to do over the next 10 days."

In terms of a heavy Australia defeat on home soil, Cummins is right that it's 'a sample size of one'. However, in terms of Labuschagne's lack of runs, there's a bigger pool to draw from.

A scratchy innings from Marnus Labuschagne after surviving an early reprieve from Virat Kohli.

Scorecard ➡️ https://t.co/r64ntQ4mIM pic.twitter.com/87DcnxMjJA

— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) November 22, 2024

Alarming run of low scores

Since he made two half-centuries at Sydney against Pakistan at the beginning of January, Labuschagne has passed the 50 marker only once in 10 innings (90 against New Zealand in Christchurch). More alarmingly, that's also the only time he's made it past 10 in a Test innings since that time, with eight single digit scores on his record. That run also extends back into 2023 where, apart from the 51 and 111 he scored on a flat Manchester wicket - the latter an innings where England were forced to heavily rely on spin due to bad light, he passed 50 only three times in 23 innings.

Nevertheless, Labuschagne's Test match average is still only a shade under 50 (48.45), which is mainly due to the run of form he put together in his early career, and how much he has previously strived in home conditions. In 2022, Labuschagne scored four centuries in five innings, three of them consecutive tons against a West Indies side blighted by injury on another doomed tour of Australia. Before that, he'd had a middling tour of Pakistan after a low-key end to the 2021/22 Ashes.

When Labuschagne first came on the scene, he was Australia's golden boy. The heir to Steve Smith in eccentricity and love for batting, and known for the length of time he spends in the nets obsessed with feeling bat on ball. And the runs he scored backed that up.

Finally breaking into the side properly during the infamous 2019 Lord's Ashes Test, Labuschagne averaged 64.94 that year. While he didn't score a century during what remained of the Ashes series, there were three consecutive hundreds during the 2019 home Australia winter, and a double in Sydney before Covid hit in early 2020.

There's been a pattern to Labuschagne's career so far. The runs at home flow easily, on familiar pitches with a familiar ball and what was a bullet proof method. While middling returns would follow during the winter tours, there was never a bad enough spell to threaten his place given the promise of the runs he would score in Australia a few months later. But now, those runs have disappeared and as has Australia's security of victory, or at least competing, at home.

Australia also have options to replace him. They've shown their willingness to move Smith around when they pushed him up to open following David Warner's retirement. Three could be a good middle ground, and would give the possibility of another batter coming in lower down the order.

Equally, a like-for-like or even one of the players Nathan McSweeney edged out to claim the second opener spot could come in at No.3. While Cummins quietened suggestions of panic in the Australia camp by asserting not many changes would be made for the Adelaide Test, Labuschagne's place is now under the most pressure it's ever been, and Australia have options to replace him.

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