Marnus Labuschagne's prolonged, difficult run with the bat continues, and former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has now had enough. After the No.3 batter lasted just nine balls in the middle in the first innings of the second Test against Bangladesh on Saturday, the 2003 and 2007 World Cup-winning captain urged the Australian management to consider a change and bring someone else into the lineup.
Labuschagne's latest failure has once again raised questions over his place in the Australian Test side, with Ponting publicly backing the idea of giving someone else an opportunity. The 32-year-old entered the second Test under considerable pressure after making just 1 and 31 in the series opener in Darwin. Australia subsequently suffered a nine-wicket defeat in that match, increasing the scrutiny on several members of the top order.
Labuschagne's last Test century came during the 2023 Ashes, and the extended drought has placed increasing pressure on his position.
“Well, look at this Aussie team and the selectors, I admire what they’re trying to do with Marnus. I admire that they tried to get him and get him back to his best, but it’s been way too long now. And I’m on record as saying I would have made that change at the start of this series because I think there was enough evidence for me to suggest that he was a long way from rediscovering his best,” Ponting said on 7Cricket.
{{/usCountry}}“Well, look at this Aussie team and the selectors, I admire what they’re trying to do with Marnus. I admire that they tried to get him and get him back to his best, but it’s been way too long now. And I’m on record as saying I would have made that change at the start of this series because I think there was enough evidence for me to suggest that he was a long way from rediscovering his best,” Ponting said on 7Cricket.
{{/usCountry}}“And he’ll look back at today, he was unlucky, there’s no doubt about that. But that tends to happen to you as well when you’re struggling, and you’re trying to find some form and some rhythm. The worry that I had with him, I think there’s some technical deficiency there, but he’s making the margin for error for the bowlers too great,” he added.
‘He can’t score off the back-foot'
The former Australia skipper also pointed to the batter's difficulty playing effectively off the back foot, an aspect of his game that had previously been a strength. According to Ponting, the change has made it easier for opposition bowlers to challenge Labuschagne and expose his current weaknesses.
Labuschagne has enjoyed considerable success in Test cricket and was previously ranked the world's No. 1 Test batter. However, his recent returns have fallen well short of those standards, and the growing technical concerns have made his position increasingly vulnerable.
“With the length, he can’t score off the back foot. If you can’t score off the back foot in Test cricket, then batting becomes a hard game. That’s the great difference between when he was at his best and when he was three or four years ago, when he’s averaging 65-68 for a test year. That was when he was scoring off the front foot and the back foot. I think the bowlers now know that they can run in a bowl anywhere from almost 10 metres to about four metres on off stump and out as wide as they want and he can’t hurt them,” Ponting said.
“So I well and truly think it’s time to have a look at somebody else. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not one for making a panic change just because we lost last week. It wasn’t about that. The guys that I played with would tell you that I’d do everything I could to keep them on my side. I didn’t want to make a change, but when something stretches out as long as it has now, and it’s well over two years since he’s made a Test match hundred. If the numbers aren’t there, I was all about just picking on talent. And we’ve seen it work in the past. There has to be one, two, three, four guys out there that when you watch them bat, they just make batting look that little bit easier than the others,” he added.
Speaking of the second Test between Australia and Bangladesh, a total of 18 wickets fell on the opening day but the hosts went on to extend their lead to 101 runs after bundling out the visitors for 64.