Labuschagne is dropped for the New Zealand Tests, 49 innings after his last century and three years after he was the world’s best

Marnus Labuschagne will not walk out at Perth Stadium next month. Australia’s chair of selectors, George Bailey, confirmed on Monday that the former world No. 1 Test batter had been left out of plans for the first Test against New Zealand, and was not expected to be considered for the rest of the four-Test series either.

The call came early, a month before the opening Test on 9 December and before the squad itself has been named. Bailey said the decision was meant to give Labuschagne “a little bit of space” and to end the speculation that had followed him home from South Africa.

“We all know how good and how effective Marnus can be at his best, but that performance hasn’t been there,” Bailey said.

How bad has the form been?

Bad enough that the debate was over before the squad was picked. On the tour of South Africa, Labuschagne made 0, 4, 14, 39, 37 and 37, finishing with a pair of single-figure scores in the Cape Town decider that Australia lost.

Since he was dropped for the West Indies tour last year and then recalled for the home Ashes, he has averaged 23.66 across 10 Tests, with two half-centuries from 19 innings. His last Test century came during the 2023 Ashes, and he has now batted 49 times without reaching three figures.

How far has he fallen?

Few Australian batters have risen as fast. Between November 2019 and December 2022 he made 10 centuries in 36 innings and climbed to the top of the ICC Test batting rankings, and he was spoken of as a future national captain. After 30 Tests his average stood at 60.82. After 68 Tests it is 42.64.

That is the context for a decision selectors would have struggled to imagine three years ago: the drop is not about one bad tour, but a slide that has now run for most of three seasons.

Can he come back?

Bailey insisted the door is open. He said a return was “still possible, absolutely”, that no player was ruled out permanently, and that Labuschagne could come back as early as next year’s Test tours of India and England. He said there was no specific instruction for him: the basic job of a top-six batter is to score runs, and that has not been happening.

Labuschagne will captain Queensland in the Sheffield Shield, the same route he took back into the side last time, when two Shield centuries won him a recall for the Ashes.

Who replaces him?

Steve Smith, who missed the Cape Town Test with a neck injury, is expected to return to the top order, which at least softens the blow. Bailey said “a handful of players” were well placed to take the remaining spot, without naming them, and Australia will make at least one change from the side that lost in Cape Town.

The selectors will name the squad after the fourth round of the Sheffield Shield, giving the contenders one more chance to press their claims this week.

Why does it matter for Australian fans?

New Zealand’s four-Test tour is the centrepiece of the home summer, with matches in Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney. Dropping a batter of Labuschagne’s standing a month out signals that the selectors are prepared to rebuild a top order that has struggled for runs, rather than wait for one of their senior players to find form in the middle of a series.