Marnus Labuschagne's position in Australian Test team to be reassessed: Andrew McDonald

Australia head coach Andrew McDonald has said that the team management will reassess Marnus Labuschagne’s place in the Test team following their series defeat in South Africa. Labuschagne continued his dismal run, scoring 131 runs from six innings in the three-match series at an average of 21.83 with a highest score of 39.

The 32-year-old hasn’t scored a half-century in his last 16 innings, while his last Test century came in July 2023 against England in Manchester. His outing in the last Test at Newlands, Cape Town lasted just eight balls across two innings with scores of 0 and 4.

Following Labuschagne's continuous poor run since making his comeback in the Test team for the Ashes 2025-26, McDonald said that they will reassess his position in the team ahead of the next Test series against New Zealand at home.

"We believed in Marnus for this tour. We'll have to reassess that as we move forward. Others will sit there and say what that means for him. There'll be a lot of speculation. There's still a very good cricketer there. Every time he drops back to state level, he outperforms the others,” said McDonald.

He added that they are not in a rush to make a decision but stressed that the senior batter failed to make the most of his opportunities on the tour.

"He's had some opportunities that he's missed on this tour in particular, so that'll be something in the next week or so that we'll get our heads around. We're not in a rush to make decisions. There's too much emotion. But, as I said, he hasn't taken his opportunity on this tour,” he added.

McDonald on ageing bowling attack

Labuschagne has gone 48 innings without scoring a Test century and has been averaging 24.31 in this period with nine half-centuries to his name.

Meanwhile, McDonald also said they will make decisions with regard to the age profile of the team as all of their four frontline bowlers are over 33 years of age. He also shrugged off Nathan Lyon’s poor show in South Africa, where he picked up six wickets from two matches at an average of 43.66.

"But we're always going to have decisions to make, in particular around the age profile of our team. We're probably asking ourselves the same questions as you guys are. I don't think it's something to review now. I think we sit back and we'll go through Shield cricket. Nathan will be preparing for the first Test match in Perth,” said McDonald.

Following their defeats in South Africa, Australia lost both their top spots in the World Test Championship (WTC) points table for the 2025-27 cycle as well as the ICC Test Team rankings. They will next take on New Zealand in a three-match Test series beginning on 9 December in Perth.