Marnus Labuschagne is fighting to save his Australia career but insists he remains a valuable international player as he prepares to captain Queensland against Victoria on Saturday.
The 32-year-old Test No.3 has been left out of Australia’s limited-overs squads for matches against Zimbabwe and South Africa, but believes he can still contribute to the team ahead of next year’s World Cup.
Labuschagne’s position has come under increasing scrutiny after a prolonged decline in form. He has scored only one century since the start of the 2023 Ashes and has averaged 26.27 during that period.
His struggles continued in August’s series against Bangladesh, when he made one and 31 in Darwin before being dismissed for four in Mackay after moving across his stumps and watching the ball deflect from his thigh guard into the wicket.
Ricky Ponting has questioned whether Labuschagne should retain his place for Australia’s three-Test series against South Africa next month. Labuschagne, however, said the criticism had not affected him and was determined to use the series to restore his reputation.
“Criticism is part of the job if you want to be an international player. You can’t be sitting here going ‘I’m upset because people are criticising me’, no one is criticising my character or my personality or who I am and what I stand for,” he said.
“They’re criticising my performance, and I’m the one who’s allowed that; because of the lack of performance, I’ve opened myself up to criticism. There’s clearly a reason why I’m still there, and I think the people who are in charge know that and know what I’ve done in the past for Australia.”
Labuschagne said his recent record was below the standard he expected of himself, but maintained that his game was in good order and that he was doing everything possible to improve before the South Africa series.
“How I’ve performed the past two years is clearly not my standard and where I want to be, and I’m doing everything possible to make sure I get back there during this series in South Africa,” he said.
His omission from the one-day squads followed a disappointing run in the format. Labuschagne has averaged 21.88 in 23 ODIs since the beginning of 2024, after scoring 826 runs at 45.89 in 2023.
He believes the setback could provide useful preparation. After being left out, Labuschagne has the chance to score runs for Queensland and work with the Bulls’ new coach, James Hopes, before returning to Test cricket.
“Obviously, it’s always disappointing when you don’t get selected for Australia, but I’m also pretty experienced now, and I know my performances haven’t been where I needed them in international one-day cricket,” he said.
“Out here, I want to score as many runs as I can, and any runs you score is going to be good for your confidence and get me into a really good space going into South Africa, regardless of the format.”
Labuschagne’s difficulties in one-day cricket have helped open the door for fellow Queenslander Matt Renshaw, who has returned to the Test squad as an opener and scored his first ODI century against Zimbabwe this week.
Former Australia Test batter Usman Khawaja believes Renshaw has the qualities to establish himself across all three formats, praising his power and improved range after a period focused on T20 and one-day cricket.
