![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/poster-fallback.png\"\/)
<\/p>\n
They have shown they have been willing to bite the bullet in the past, but with a tour of South Africa and a bumper year of Test cricket on the horizon, they were left with more questions than answers by the Top End series draw with Bangladesh.<\/p>\n
This was meant to be the series where Australia\u2019s batters could finally fill their boots.<\/p>\n
After multiple summers of hard graft of spicy surfaces, the likes of Labuschagne, Jake Weatherald and Cameron Green were meant to trade bruises for cover drives and confidence boosting runs.<\/p>\n
Green delivered with a century in Darwin, and he was the only batter to pass fifty in Mackay to top the run charts for the series.<\/p>\n
Weatherald was the casualty of the shock loss in his hometown, while Labuschagne left the Australian hierarchy scratching their heads.<\/p>\n
His streak without a Test century still extends back to the Old Trafford Test of the 2023 Ashes series.<\/p>\n
In 43 Test innings since that Manchester ton, Labuschagne averages 24.69 and has scored nine half-centuries.<\/p>\n
The last of which came in the first innings at the Gabba during the Ashes.<\/p>\n
Australia\u2019s Marnus Labuschagne reacts as he walks off the ground after being bowled during the first day of the second cricket Test match between Australia and Bangladesh at the Great Barrier Reef Stadium in Mackay on August 22, 2026. (Photo by DAVID GRAY \/ AFP)Source: AFP<\/p>\n
They are bleak numbers for the nation\u2019s Test No.3, but aside from his axing in the West Indies last year, the selectors have remained loyal off the back of domestic form and key innings in victories.<\/p>\n
Labuschagne was spared for last year\u2019s World Test Championship final at Lord\u2019s because of his knocks of 72 and 70 in Australia\u2019s famous final day victory against at the MCG the summer prior.<\/p>\n
He was selected for the Bangladesh series due to contributions of 51 not out in Perth, 65 in Brisbane as well as 48 and 37 in Sydney in Ashes victories.<\/p>\n
McDonald told Cricinfo during Australia\u2019s pre-series training camp that on more sporting surfaces, this team assesses their batters not on averages but of the percentage of the team\u2019s runs or the total runs scored for the match.<\/p>\n
But captain Pat Cummins perhaps hinted in press conference in Mackay on Sunday evening that the old fashioned metric is beginning to weigh too heavy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t reckon I can guarantee anyone really. He\u2019s not scored the runs he would\u2019ve liked,\u201d Cummins said after the match. <\/p>\n
\u201cI did say a couple of days ago \u2013 and I think it still stands \u2013 he\u2019s been batting fantastically well off the field. But it doesn\u2019t mean much. You\u2019ve got to convert that into runs out there.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got a bit of time. Selectors will get together I\u2019m sure in the next week or two and start nutting out that next Test squad. We know he\u2019s class when he\u2019s at his best, and going into this series we thought he was pretty close to his best.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut he needs to start transferring that into runs out there, so we\u2019ll see in the next couple of weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n
READ MORE<\/p>\n
TALKING PTS: Australia\u2019s bowlers made up for Darwin. It makes a batting fix even more urgent<\/a><\/p>\n PLAYER RATINGS: Star\u2019s breakout series, batters flop as Aussie greats send reminder of their class<\/a><\/p>\n REPORT:Starc takes TEN as \u2018exceptional\u2019 Aussies complete Mackay rout in record low for tourists<\/a><\/p>\n Felt like I could do what I want | 12:30<\/p>\n Labuschagne looked all at sea on day one at Marrara Stadium before appearing to have turned a corner during his 31 in the first innings.<\/p>\n He was eventually undone by left arm tweaker Taijul Islam as he yorked himself trying to whip the ball through the leg side.<\/p>\n Traditionalists urged him to play straight, but the 32-year-old was defended by former teammate David Warner, who on commentary for Fox Cricket stressed that flicking spinners through square leg is one of Labuschagne\u2019s great strengths.<\/p>\n He just somehow missed that delivery.<\/p>\n There is an adage in cricket that you need a start; you need a 20 to 30 odd before a big score.<\/p>\n It serves as a launch pad because your game is in decent shape but with a few little tweaks, a batter will be away.<\/p>\n But in Mackay, Labuschagne being bowled for 4 via his thigh pad proved another famous cricket adage, when you\u2019re out of luck the game will really punish you.<\/p>\n Speaking to Fox Cricket before play on day two, Labuschagne said the dismissal was a result of wanting to \u201crush a bit\u201d.<\/p>\n Marnus Labuschagne of Australia is bowled by Shoriful Islam of Bangladesh during day one of the Second Test Match in the series between Australia and Bangladesh at Great Barrier Reef Arena on August 22, 2026 in Mackay, Australia. (Photo by Robert Cianflone\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n \u201cYou know there\u2019s an opportunity to put a bit of pressure on the bowler and probably played a shot I didn\u2019t really need to at that time of the game,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n \u201cBut it\u2019s a new opportunity this week and all those lessons learned last week hopefully we can put them into place.\u201d<\/p>\n While Australia\u2019s all-time leading Test run scorer Ricky Ponting believes it was a sign that enough is enough.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was unlucky today. There\u2019s no doubt about that,\u201d Ponting said on Channel 7. <\/p>\n \u201cBut that tends to happen to you as well when you\u2019re struggling and you\u2019re trying to find some form and some rhythm. The worry that I had with him, I think there\u2019s some technical deficiency there but he\u2019s making the margin for error for the bowlers too great. <\/p>\n \u201cWith the length, he can\u2019t score off the back foot. If you can\u2019t score off the back foot in Test cricket then batting becomes a hard game. <\/p>\n \u201cSo, I well and truly think it\u2019s time to have a look at somebody else. Don\u2019t get me wrong, I\u2019m not one for making panic change just because we lost last week. <\/p>\n \u201cIt wasn\u2019t about that. I didn\u2019t want to make change (as a captain) but when something stretches out as long as it has now and it\u2019s well over two years since he\u2019s made a Test match hundred.\u201d<\/p>\n READ MORE<\/p>\n \ufeff\u2018It\u2019s his last chance\u2019: Great delivers Marnus verdict as candid Aussie opens up on form slump<\/a><\/p>\n \ufeff\u2018We\u2019ll see\u2019: \u2018Big Three\u2019 reveal clues over next move as Aussies turn attention to forgotten project<\/a><\/p>\n