Labuschagne’s Test form has been poor enough to justify real doubt, but the argument for keeping him ignores a record sitting in plain sight. He has never batted in a Test in the country of his birth, yet his white-ball numbers there are the best of his career by some distance. Selectors kept faith for the tour that begins in Durban on October 9, and the case for that decision has nothing to do with sentiment. It comes down to two centuries, an average past 60, and conditions he has always found familiar.
The Slump Behind The Debate
The numbers are not flattering. His last century in the format came on 19 July 2023, a draw-saving 111 against England at Old Trafford. Since that innings, he has averaged 24.69 across 43 innings, a sharp decline from a player who once held the number one ranking and averaged more than 62.
His yearly averages tell the same story: 34.91 in 2023, 30.93 in 2024, and just 20.84 in 2025. The Bangladesh series in August 2026 produced scores of 1, 31, and 4, and he has also been dropped from the one-day squad for this tour entirely. Selector George Bailey did not dodge the issue, admitting openly that the squad wants to see more runs from him.
Marnus Labuschagne South Africa Test record
Here is where the story gets complicated. Labuschagne has never played a Test in South Africa, which makes 9 October a genuine first, but his one-day record on that soil is elite. Both of his career centuries in fifty-over cricket have come there, 108 at Potchefstroom in March 2020, close to his Klerksdorp birthplace, and 124 at Bloemfontein in September 2023.
Across eight one-day innings on South African soil, he averages north of 60, a number that dwarfs anything he has produced in red-ball cricket over the past three years. Few players anywhere can point to that kind of gap between their two formats in the same country.
Format / Context | Innings | Average | Centuries |
|---|---|---|---|
Test career (all time) | 65 matches | 43.79 | 11 |
Test since July 2023 | 43 innings | 24.69 | 0 |
ODI in South Africa | 8 innings | 60+ | 2 |
The Case His White-Ball Numbers Make
In the five-match one-day series against South Africa in 2023, Labuschagne piled up 283 runs at an average of 70, more than any other player managed in that series. His 124 at Bloemfontein came inside a 151-run stand with David Warner and helped Australia post 392 for eight.
His first century in Potchefstroom arrived with around 50 members of his South African family watching from the stands, and he later described the innings as one of the most special of his career. Both centuries also stand as his personal best score and the two highest innings of his fifty-over career. There is an evident comfort with the pitches and the light in that part of the world.
The Selectors’ Calculated Gamble
Bailey stopped short of naming the South African record as a reason for the selection, but the choice itself implies confidence in what he can still offer. He said the group remains sure Labuschagne can make a positive contribution and that he will keep refining his preparation for this tour.
Labuschagne has never faced a Test ball in South Africa, so the only real evidence for how he handles the conditions sits entirely in the white-ball game. That evidence, taken entirely on its own terms and without any red-ball context to weigh it against, is still overwhelmingly positive.
Can Form Cross Between Formats
There is no guarantee it does. Test cricket in South Africa asks different questions than one-day cricket, with seaming conditions and fuller lengths from a genuinely quick attack. This series marks Australia’s first red-ball tour of the country since the Sandpapergate saga of 2018, and Smith, Cummins, Starc, Hazlewood and Lyon all return from that touring party.
Labuschagne was not part of that 2018 controversy, and he arrives in his country of birth under real pressure but carrying a Marnus Labuschagne South Africa Test record in white-ball cricket that nobody questioning his place seems to have noticed. Footwork against spin, comfort accelerating once set, and positioning against pace have all produced runs at these venues before. Whether any of that genuinely carries over to the format that matters most to selectors this month remains the only real, unanswered question.
Should Labuschagne’s white-ball record in South Africa count for anything in this Test squad debate? Tell us what you think.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is Marnus Labuschagne’s one-day average in South Africa?
Labuschagne averages more than 60 from eight one-day innings played in South Africa. Both of his career ODI centuries have come there, 108 at Potchefstroom and 124 at Bloemfontein.
When did Marnus Labuschagne last score a Test century?
Labuschagne’s last Test century came on 19 July 2023, a match-saving 111 against England. He has gone 43 innings without reaching three figures since that innings at Old Trafford.
Who else was added to Australia’s squad for the South Africa tour?
Cooper Connolly, Matthew Kuhnemann and Michael Neser were added to the group that toured Bangladesh. Connolly earned his call-up after scoring 149 in a one-day match in June.
When does the Australia versus South Africa Test series begin?
The first Test starts on 9 October 2026 at Kingsmead Stadium in Durban. The series continues in Gqeberha and finishes at Newlands in Cape Town on 31 October.
Has Marnus Labuschagne ever played international cricket in South Africa?
Labuschagne has played one-day cricket in South Africa but never a Test match there before this tour. His 2020 century at Potchefstroom came close to his own birthplace in Klerksdorp.