In many ways, Marnus Labuschagne is a one-off. An idiosyncratic cricketer whose hyperactive demeanour on and off the field puts him in a category all to his own.
The 30-year-old from Queensland, via Klerksdorp in South Africa’s North West Province, is unconventional away from the batting crease but his technique is not just solid but more than capable of making him the top-ranked batter in world cricket.
Whereas most modern careers tend to start off slowly and batters hit their peak around 30, Labuschagne has bucked the trend by dominating bowling attacks after cementing his spot in the team and then cooling off dramatically over the past two years.
While his overall Test average is still an extremely healthy 47.23, the fact is he has gone eight straight series without going near that career baseline.
Since the South Africans came to Australia at the end of 2022, his series averages have been in the 24-42 range apart from a disastrous two-Test return on home soil last summer against the West Indies when he scraped together 19 runs at 6.33.
In those 25 Tests he has managed just one ton – what turned out to be a series-saving innings – on the 2023 Ashes tour despite getting a half-century 10 times, averaging 31.07.
The conventional wisdom in Test cricket is for a team’s best batter to be coming in at the first drop of a wicket.
They should be adept at coming in early if one of the opener’s perishes to the new ball or able to consolidate an innings if the first-wicket stand flourishes.
The problem with Labuschagne in recent times has been that if a wicket falls early, Australia are usually two down for not many.
In the past eight series, when he has arrived at the wicket with less than 30 runs on the board, he has been out for less than 20 in 15 of those 31 innings.
After entering the top 10 ICC rankings after his 10th Test in 2019, he was No.1 for the best part of two years before dropping back to 11th after the ghastly Windies series.
On the tour of New Zealand early last year, he fell cheaply in three innings but redeemed himself with a 90 which proved crucial in the narrow win at Christchurch.
In the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, arguments can be made for either side about whether Labuschagne fulfilled his role.
He was one of only three batters from either side to pass 50 on three occasions, along with Travis Head and Yashasvi Jaiswal, but Labuschagne failed to pass 12 on his six other trips to the crease.
Marnus Labuschagne. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)
In a series where the ball dominated the bat to such an extent that only three batters averaged over 35, he ended up with 232 from nine innings at 25.77.
He was trapped in front three times and caught behind or in the cordon on five occasions with one catch spooned to mid-off while his strike rate was down more than 10 from his career mark at 41.5
As the Australians prepare for their tour of Sri Lanka as an entree to the main course of the World Test Championship final in June against South Africa, the selectors need to consider their options for Labuschagne.
It boils down to four potential scenarios for the panel of George Bailey, Tony Dodemaide and coach Andrew McDonald to do right by Labuschagne’s career but more importantly, the team as the Aussies negotiate a tricky transition period while also trying to retain their status as world champs and holders of every bilateral Test series.
Option 1: Keep him where he is
The current selection panel is more conservative than John Howard at a Bob Menzies convention.
So the likely scenario is that they will keep him where he is and hope that he regains the form that took him to the top of the ICC rankings.
The problem with this scenario, if the selectors take this path, is that Labuschagne may never rediscover that form and he needs a change to reinvigorate his career.
The upside is he’s done it once, so in theory he should be able to do it again because Steve Smith, although he averages higher at three than four, prefers to remain where he is.
Nathan McSweeney and Usman Khawaja. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
The only other viable alternative would be a rookie like Nathan McSweeney. Labuschagne hit a century the last time he was in Sri Lanka.
Whichever way the selectors go with our opening duo out of Sam Konstas, Usman Khawaja or Travis Head, if they can’t get off to a good start, Labuschagne needs to prove he can be relied upon to right the ship if a wicket falls early in their last tune-up before defending their World Test Championship crown.
Option 2: Move him up to opener
The odds are very much against him moving him up the order given the selectors had multiple opportunities to do so over the past 18 months to try him at opener and he publicly, and presumably privately, resisted any overtures for him to face the new ball.
He started his first-class career, more than a decade ago, with Queensland as an opener, but did not last long before returning as a middle-order option.
Head appears to be the main candidate to go up the order in Sri Lanka if the brains trust decide a change is needed because they think Konstas’ aggression will not work or, less likely, that Khawaja’s time is up.
Option 3: Drop him down the order
This is a left-field idea but one that is worth a decent amount of consideration by the selection panel.
Would Labuschagne be of better value to the team if he were to come in later when the moving ball has lost its shine?
The Aussies are hopeful that Cameron Green will be back to face South Africa in June as a specialist batter and he is a potential option for first drop or back at four if Smith moves up.
Cameron Green. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
Labuschagne bats at five for the most part when he is in the ODI side so the switch to the middle order could do him the world of good.
Option 4: Drop him altogether
Labuschagne would not be the first prolific run-scorer to be dropped even though he is relatively later in his career to when the likes of Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke suffered that fate.
A stint in the Sheffield Shield ranks where he can get the runs flowing again could just be the move that reignites the fire within.
With a World Test Championship final and the Ashes on the horizon, it is not the time to be carrying a player who is not earning their keep.
If they feel the need to try out new options, the Australian selectors do have two matches over the next few weeks which do not affect their World Test Championship status as well as what should be three eminently winnable fixtures in the West Indies in June and July so they can nail down a line-up that will retain the urn and their ongoing status as the undisputed kings of Test cricket.
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