Marnus for the Chop? Labuschagne's 16 Innings Without a Fifty

Marnus Labuschagne faced eight balls at Newlands. He made 0 off 5 in Australia's first innings, caught by Aiden Markram off Simon Harmer, and 4 off 3 in the second, lbw to Kagiso Rabada. South Africa won by 176 runs, and Labuschagne's run without a Test fifty reached 16 innings.

Australia's next Test is against New Zealand at Perth Stadium on Wednesday 9 December, and the question around the squad is a blunt one. Is Marnus for the chop? His Statz Test record makes the case on both sides.

Sixteen innings since the last fifty

Labuschagne's last Test fifty was 65 at the Gabba on 4 December 2025, in the second Ashes Test. Every innings since then has finished short of 50:

Leave out the 65 and that is 16 innings for 301 runs. The shape of it matters as much as the total. Seven of the 16 ended in single figures. Six passed 30 without going on: 48 and 37 at Sydney, 31 at Marrara, 37 twice at Kingsmead and 39 at St George's Park. Five of those six are in the 30s. He has been getting in and getting out, which is a different problem from being out of his depth.

The calendar year puts a number on it. In 2026 Labuschagne has 252 runs from 6 Tests at an average of 22.91, with no hundreds. In the World Test Championship alone it is 167 runs in 5 matches at 18.56, which leaves him 75th on the WTC run-scorers list.

Newlands in eight balls

Newlands was the worst of it. Australia made 429 in their first innings, so his duck cost them little at the time. The second innings was different: Harmer took 6/16 and Australia folded, the story of how South Africa won by 176 after trailing by 100. Labuschagne was gone for 4, lbw to Rabada. The Newlands scorecard has both dismissals and the rest of the match.

The case for keeping him

Dropping a player of Labuschagne's standing is never only about the last 16 innings. His career figures, from ESPNcricinfo:

That 215 came against New Zealand in January 2020, and New Zealand are next.

His captain made the same point after the defeat at St George's Park. "He's actually doing the hard bit, he's getting to 30," Pat Cummins said, before adding that Labuschagne had to turn those into bigger scores, because 30s do not win many matches.

Even the longer recent sample is not a disaster. In his last 30 Tests, going back to the 2023 Ashes, he has 1,387 runs, and he has passed 25 in 17 of those 30 matches. The scores in the 30s this year say he is still seeing it well enough to get set. What is missing is the conversion, and that is the part a batter with 11 Test hundreds has shown he can find.

The case for the chop

The trouble is how long the conversion has been missing. Statz's last 30 Tests for Labuschagne include one hundred, 111 at Old Trafford in July 2023. Since then the best he has managed is 90, at Hagley Oval in March 2024, against New Zealand. Sixteen innings without a fifty, and more than three years without a hundred, is a long time for a number three in a side that expects to win.

His Perth Stadium record does not help him either. In his last three Tests there he made 9 and 51 against England in November 2025, 2 and 3 against India in November 2024, and 16 and 2 against Pakistan in December 2023.

ESPNcricinfo reports that his place now looks untenable ahead of the New Zealand series, and the selectors have an obvious alternative.

Dropped once already

This is not new ground for Labuschagne. ESPNcricinfo recalls that he was dropped in mid-2025, after the World Test Championship final against South Africa at Lord's, where he had been given what became a one-off chance to open. He made 17 and 22 in a match Australia lost, missed three Tests in the West Indies and came back for the Ashes.

The comeback started well enough: 9 and 51 at Perth, then 65 at the Gabba. That 65 is still his last Test fifty. He kept his place for the Cape Town decider after St George's Park, and made 0 and 4.

Smith's return and the batting order

Steven Smith missed Newlands. ESPNcricinfo reports he will come back for Perth if he gets over his neck injury, and that if he simply replaces Labuschagne it means another reshuffle of the batting order.

On form, the swap makes itself:

Across Australia's last 30 Tests the Australia Test run-scorers table has Labuschagne fifth, and the gap to the top two is wide:

Smith's hundred was 138 at Sydney in January, and his last Test before the injury brought 28 and 3 at St George's Park. In the WTC this year he sits 39th on runs to Labuschagne's 75th. Our Australia squad page tracks who is in contention, and Australia's Test team page has the side's recent results.

It is not only the batting

Labuschagne is the easiest name to put in a headline, but Newlands raised questions about the attack too. ESPNcricinfo notes the scrutiny on how hard Australia's bowlers worked to bowl South Africa out in the second innings, after a poor start on the first day.

The scorecard backs that up. South Africa's openers put on 158 before Marques Ackerman was out in the 32nd over on day one, and South Africa's second innings lasted 134.4 overs. Nathan Lyon bowled 44 of them for two wickets, while Harmer took 6/16 on the same surface. For an attack that strong, that is a lot of work for little reward.

Perth on 9 December

The Australia v New Zealand first Test starts at Perth Stadium at 02:20 GMT on Wednesday 9 December. Australia come in on a form line of L L W W L, New Zealand on W W L W W, and Australia lead the head to head 5-0 on Statz's record.

Whether Labuschagne is in that XI is the selectors' call. The numbers say he has been getting starts, he has not passed 50 in 16 innings, and the man most likely to take his place averages 43.33 this year. Follow the team news and the projections on the Perth Test preview, and the rest of the summer on the upcoming cricket fixtures.

For the match that brought it to a head, read the full South Africa vs Australia scorecard from Newlands, or compare Labuschagne with the rest of the format on the Test Statz leaders. His full record is on Marnus Labuschagne's Test stats page.

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