It seems the end is near for Marnus Labuschagne as far as his international career is concerned. The 32-year-old batter had a woeful series in South Africa that seems to have put the final nail in his Test career. Labuschagne managed 131 runs from six innings at an average just under 22 without scoring a fifty.

In the Cape Town game, the batter scored zero and four as his side not only lost the match by 176 runs but also squandered the series by a 1-2 margin. The batter, who at one stage was averaging in the high 60s at the start of his career, has seen his numbers plummet over the last few years. The last of his 11 Test tons came in 2023 during the Ashes against England.

Australia skipper Pat Cummins spoke to the media after the series and said that the team could witness few changes.

“I still think we are a good side. We did have our moments in all the games while playing the current world number 1 Test side in their own conditions,” he said.

When asked if the team is looking to introspect after the team loss, Cummins said: “Questions will have to be asked internally as well. We have to get better if we have to be the number one side. Maybe there will be a few changes in style and also in personnel.”

Australia’s batting in tatters

The next Test series for the 2023 WTC winners is the 4-game home bilateral assignment against New Zealand, which begins in December.

This will be followed by the gruelling five-Test tour of India, which begins in early January and ends in March. After that, the Aussies will play England in a one-off Test to commemorate 150 years of Test cricket in Melbourne.

Matt Renshaw was the leading run-getter for the visitors, scoring 369 runs from three games.

The southpaw scored a century and a fifty in Durban, while batting in the middle-order before moving to open the innings in the final game of the series.

Travis Head was the next best batter, amassing 210 runs, which included a fighting ton in the second innings of the Gqeberha Test. None of the other batters managed to go past 200 runs in the series, showing the worrying chinks in Australia’s batting order.