Physical Address
Suite 5, 181 High Street,
Willoughby North NSW 2068
Chennai send champs to brink of IPL exit | 00:54
Marnus Labuschagne is reportedly in line to open the batting for next month’s World Test Championship final against South Africa at the expense of teenager phenom Sam Konstas.
In the coming days, Cricket Australia will announce a 15-player squad for the marquee fixture against the Proteas at Lord’s, which gets underway on June 11, with the Sydney Morning Herald reporting Labuschagne is favoured to join Queensland teammate Usman Khawaja at the top of the order.
The Australian No. 3 has never opened at Test level, although he was discussed as an option to occupy the vacancy left by David Warner following the veteran’s retirement in January 2024.
Labuschagne’s elevation would squeeze Konstas out of the starting XI and accommodate the long-awaited return of Cameron Green, who missed the recent home summer due to a back injury.
FOX CRICKET, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every game of the 2025 Indian Premier League exclusively LIVE | New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited time offer >
Last year, Labuschagne proved his worth as a red-ball opener by cracking a century for Glamorgan in a County Championship match against Middlesex in Cardiff, with his stylish 111 featuring 17 boundaries. The Queenslander, who recently welcomed his second child, will play two matches for Glamorgan in late May ahead of the World Test Championship final.
If selected, Labuschagne would become the fifth player to open alongside Khawaja since Warner’s retirement, with Steve Smith, Nathan McSweeney and Konstas each occupying the role before Travis Head was thrown up the order during this year’s Test tour of Sri Lanka in a horses-for-courses move.
In February, former Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist floated Labuschagne as an option to open the batting when Head returned to his preferred position at No. 5.
“They obviously put a lot of value on (Labuschagne) being in the team and he played a couple of really reliable knocks in the summer without being back up to the lofty standards he set over the last few years,” Gilchrist said at the time.
“I think they put a high importance on Marnus’ presence in the team so he could be one of a number of options they look at at the top of the order.”
Asked about the prospect of opening the batting in October last year, Labuschagne responded: “I will bat wherever they tell me to bat. Currently I would say that how I have played at No. 3 has been relatively successful.
“If (selectors) think I should move and that is best for the team, that is what will happen.”
Batting average of Australian Test openers since David Warner’s retirement
39.22 – Usman Khawaja
32.66 – Travis Head
28.50 – Steve Smith
28.25 – Sam Konstas
14.40 – Nathan McSweeney
Australia’s Marnus Labuschagne. Photo by Saeed KHAN / AFPSource: AFPLabuschagne is under mounting pressure to keep his spot in Australia’s starting XI with the likes of Josh Inglis and Green breathing down his neck. The right-hander has accumulated 935 runs at 28.33 during the current World Test Championship with one century in 36 knocks, an 111 against England during the 2023 Ashes campaign.
Elsehwere, Konstas made global headlines in December last year for his dazzling Boxing Day fifty against India at the MCG, where he stunned speedster Jasprit Bumrah and rattled superstar Virat Kohli, but the 19-year-old failed to muster a century in his next 11 first-class knocks, subsequently missing selection for the two Tests in Sri Lanka.
