Marnus Labuschagne Faces Pressure as Australia Returns to South Africa

Marnus Labuschagne will walk back into South Africa next month carrying two very different histories on his shoulders.

One is personal: a prodigious number three who has not reached three figures in Test cricket since 2023 and who looked badly out of rhythm in Bangladesh. The other is collective: Australia’s first Test series in South Africa since Sandpapergate, the scandal that reshaped modern Australian cricket.

Both stories converge in October.

Selectors back out-of-form No. 3

Labuschagne, 32, has kept his place in a 16-man squad for the three-Test tour despite a lean stretch that has sharpened the focus on his position. Born in South Africa before moving to Australia as a child, he returns to his country of birth short of runs and under scrutiny.

His most recent Test series, in Bangladesh last month, brought scores of 1, 31 and 4. Those numbers were followed by a notable omission: he was left out of Australia’s squads for three ODIs in Zimbabwe and three more in South Africa.

George Bailey, Australia’s chief selector, did not try to dress up the situation.

"[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 said, making it clear the faith remains but the expectations are high.

"Our batting group in its entirety, not just Marn, probably hasn't been functioning as successfully as we would like."

The question came, inevitably: is this Labuschagne’s last chance?

Bailey pushed back. "No, I wouldn't say that. But again, it's a hypothetical, isn't it?" A public vote of confidence, but with the subtext any senior player recognises – Test spots are never guaranteed when the runs dry up.

Ghosts of 2018

This tour is not just another line in the Future Tours Programme. It is Australia’s first Test series in South Africa since the explosive 2018 campaign, when the use of sandpaper on the ball in Cape Town detonated into a scandal that rocked the sport.

Steve Smith and David Warner, then captain and vice-captain, received year-long bans for their roles in the incident during the third Test. The fallout cost careers, reputations and forced a hard reset of Australian cricket’s culture.

From that 3-1 series defeat, only six players remain in this squad: current captain Pat Cummins, fast bowlers Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, off-spinner Nathan Lyon, Smith, and Matt Renshaw. The rest of the group will be walking into a chapter they only know through footage and headlines.

For those who were there, this is a return to the scene of a sporting crime. For Labuschagne, it is something else again – a chance to revive a faltering stretch of form in the country where his life began.

Connolly, Kuhnemann and Neser included

The squad itself carries few surprises. Cooper Connolly, Matthew Kuhnemann and Michael Neser are included alongside the established core, with the rest of the group unchanged from the second Test in Bangladesh.

Continuity is the message. Australia’s selectors have resisted the temptation to swing the axe, even as they acknowledge the batting unit has not been operating at full power.

The schedule offers little time for anyone to ease into it. Australia open in Durban on 9 October, then move on to Gqeberha and Cape Town, venues loaded with history and, for some, unfinished business.

Labuschagne will walk out at No. 3 again, still backed, still trusted – but now with the sharp edge of accountability that comes when the runs have stopped flowing.

South Africa, of all places, is where Australia once lost its way. It may yet be where one of their key batsmen finds his again.