'If he isn't playing well....': Australia great's blunt verdict on Marnus Labuschagne's poor Test form

Australia batter Marnus Labuschagne is going through a poor run of form in Test cricket. The 30-year-old hasn't scored a ton in the format since July, 2023 and failed to shine in the World Test Championship (WTC) final against South Africa as well.

However, despite this, the batter still averages at 46.19 in the longest format and according to former Australia cricketer Justin Langer, rather than getting dropped, Labuschagne should continue to bat in the top-order.

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"Marnus is a 50-Test player. He's been the best player in the world. He still averages (46.19). All players go through it. If you're not scoring runs, you're going to be under the spotlight. But all of a sudden David Warner leaves. And then Usman Khawaja leaves. And then Steve Smith," Langer told reporters at the State of Origin rugby league series in Perth.

"If Marnus isn't playing well, you've got a huge gap there because Travis Head bats down the order. So he's actually a very, very important link in this chain here. If I was the Australian team, I'd be focusing – and I'm sure they are – all their attention on getting Marnus to come good in however that is," he added.

Labuschagne was dismissed cheaply in both innings of the WTC final

Labuschagne recorded scores of 17 and 22 in the first and second innings respectively of the WTC final against the Proteas. Following this performance, his place in the playing XI has become doubtful. However, Langer believes that the Australian team management cannot afford to replace Labuschagne with a 'kid' especially with the Ashes coming up later in the year.

"You think about the history of Australian cricket. The best young players come in surrounded by absolute guns. Michael Clarke, Ricky Ponting, Damien Martyn and Matthew Hayden. They come in and they're around gun players. If you just all of a sudden bring a couple of kids in, Cameron Green's still young to the game. And you have to bring another kid in there (to replace Labuschagne). Sam Konstas, he played a few Tests, right? I think he's only got two first-class hundreds at the moment. And they were both in the same game," Langer stated.

"I say this with absolute respect, but these new guys coming in, they're not averaging 50 (in first-class cricket). These other guys coming through, you've got to be smacking the door down. You can't just bring them in an Ashes series," he concluded.

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Australia will now be embarking on a tour to Caribbean where they will be taking on the West Indies for a three-match Test series and a five-match T20I series. The first Test is set to begin from June 25.

Then, the Baggy Greens' all-important five-match Test series against England will commence later from November 21. It will be interesting to see if any major change take place to their playing XI in red-ball cricket by that time.