Marnus Labuschagne's poor run of Test form means his place in Australia's XI could be in danger when they step out for the World Test Championship final at Lord's in June.
Australia have rejigged their batting order several times over the last few months. For their tour of Sri Lanka, they ditched Sam Konstas as opener despite the teenager's impressive start to Test cricket against India, in favour of moving Travis Head up to open alongside Usman Khawaja. The reasoning for this was ostensibly to replicate the runs Head found at the top of the order in India, when he replaced David Warner as opener two years ago. On that tour, Head averaged 55.75 across the two-and-a-half Tests he filled in for Warner.
Moving Head up to the top created a vacancy in the middle-order, which Australia filled by drafting in Josh Inglis. They could have dropped Konstas down into the middle rather than leaving him out, but the decision to include Inglis was rewarded when he scored the second-fastest century in history by a men's Test debutant. While Head hasn't come out of the tour with a huge number of runs, his half-century in the first Test filled the selectors' brief of being aggressive against the new ball and getting the side off to a fast start.
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The success of both Konstas and Inglis so soon into their Test careers is why Labuschagne's place could be under threat if Australia opt to move Head back down the order for the WTC final.
As Head was moved up the order in Sri lanka primarily based on his form from a previous tour of Asia, it's not unlikely that he will move back down to five in England. He scored 163 in the 2023 final at The Oval batting at No.5, and his success on the Ashes series in the same year also came at No.5. If Head does drop back down, Konstas will likely be brought back in to open and one of Inglis or Beau Webster will miss out.
The complication to this is if Cam Green regains his fitness in time for the final. Green had back surgery in October last year, which ruled him out of Australia's home summer. However, he has hinted at potentially taking up a stint in County Cricket in England later this year.
If Green comes back in and Head doesn't open in England, Australia will need to drop two middle-order batters from their lineup in Sri Lanka. While they could opt to play all three of Head, Green and Labuschagne in their XI, it's feasible that the Australia selectors could view their best top seven as not including Labuschagne.
Marnus Labuschagne has endured a lean run with the bat in Tests since the start of 2023 📉#NZvAUS pic.twitter.com/Cm3UCE0AAb
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) March 1, 2024
A poor run of form stretching back to 2022 for Labuschagne has extended into Sri Lanka, with scores of 20 & four in his two innings so far. He hasn't scored a Test hundred since 2023 and has averaged 30.92 since the beginning of that year.
A pair of half-centuries against India were enough to alleviate mounting pressure over his immediate position, but he now has 12 single figure scores in his last 18 innings. Of particular concern is his record outside of Australia, and to some extent in England, where he averaged 32.91 across the summer of 2023.
With Inglis succeeding straight away in Sri Lanka, and Green waiting in the wings to return, it's justifiable that Australia could view a middle-order of Green, Steve Smith, Head, Inglis and Alex Carey, as their best option at Lord's, with Konstas opening. The other route to replace Labuschagne would be bringing back Nathan McSweeney as a like-for-like replacement at No.3.
However, a one off, winner-takes-all Test at the Home of Cricket might not be the place to experiment. Backing Labuschagne's experience and stability for that kind of game could be his saving grace. But the line at the door to replace him is only growing as his dry spell continues.
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