{"id":740325,"date":"2026-08-17T01:10:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T01:10:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/740325\/"},"modified":"2026-08-17T01:10:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T01:10:10","slug":"not-coming-back-darwin-disaster-exposes-glaring-mistake-as-great-delivers-verdict-on-duos-futures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/740325\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Not coming back\u2019: Darwin disaster exposes glaring mistake as great delivers verdict on duo\u2019s futures"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former Australian selector Mark Waugh believes it is a \u201c50\/50 call\u201d on whether Jake Weatherald and Marnus Labuschagne will hold their spots after they failed to fire in Australia\u2019s shock loss to Bangladesh in the first Test in Darwin<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Weatherald made scores of 23 and 0, while Labuschagne could only muster 1 and 31 as Australia\u2019s top order batting woes reared their ugly head in the Top End.<\/p>\n

\ufeffWatch every ball of Australia vs Bangladesh Test Series live and ad-break free during play with Fox Cricket on Kayo | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Weatherald, who made his Test debut in the Ashes, and Labuschagne, who was recalled to the side for the last home summer after carrying the drinks in the West Indies, came into this series against Bangladesh under intense scrutiny.<\/p>\n

In his first taste of Test cricket, Weatherald scored just one fifty against England and the opener\u2019s career average now sits at 21.27 after 12 innings.<\/p>\n

While Labuschagne made 259 runs at 28.77 last summer, and has not scored a Test century since the fourth Test of the 2023 Ashes series at Old Trafford.<\/p>\n

With Australia naming a 13-man squad for the two-Test series against Bangladesh, the pair came into the series expected to be given the chance to play in Darwin and Mackay.<\/p>\n

But Waugh believes George Bailey and his selection panel may need a rethink after the nation\u2019s first ever loss to Bangladesh on home soil.<\/p>\n

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\u201cAustralia bowled better than they batted in this game. They\u2019ll be better for the run a lot of the bowlers,\u201d Waugh said in conversation with Adam Gilchrist, David Warner and Alyssa Healy on Fox Cricket post-match in Darwin.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really about the batting. The top three.<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay, we\u2019ll leave Travis Head there for the moment. I don\u2019t think he\u2019s an opener, but anyway, he\u2019s going to open.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s Jake Weatherald and Marnus Labuschagne. Those guys need runs. There\u2019s no doubt about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just wondering whether the selectors have said them to before this Test: \u2018okay, you\u2019ve got these two Test matches to prove your spot in the team\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m concerned about Jake Weatherald. Looking at him, he\u2019s trying to tinker with his technique. I think there\u2019s lot of things going on in his head.<\/p>\n

Australian batsman Jake Weatherald is bowled on the third day of the first cricket Test match between Australia and Bangladesh at Marrara Stadium in Darwin on August 15, 2026. (Photo by William WEST \/ AFP)Source: AFPAustralian batsman Marnus Labuschagne (R) is bowled as Bangladesh wicketkeeper Litton Das (L) looks on the third day of the first cricket Test match between Australia and Bangladesh at Marrara Stadium in Darwin on August 15, 2026. (Photo by William WEST \/ AFP)Source: AFP<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s making life very difficult for himself and Marnus, we said he batted better in the second innings. But he could have been out earlier a number of times.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe hasn\u2019t made big runs for a while. He\u2019s got runs in the bank, which is sort of keeping him in the side.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s a 50\/50 call on these guys for the next Test. I think Weatherald\u2019s probably the one in the biggest danger. Marnus, I\u2019d give him another go.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you add two new fresh faces without any cricket under their belt going to South Africa, which is a massive series?\u201d Warner replied.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the massive question for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s pretty bad planning if you haven\u2019t got your guys next in line (ready),\u201d Waugh responded.<\/p>\n

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Aus batting woes continues in 2nd inns | 02:39<\/p>\n

Josh Inglis, who played in Brisbane and Adelaide during the Ashes, is the reserve batter in the squad.<\/p>\n

But Australia\u2019s white-ball gloveman is not regarded as a top order option in the game\u2019s longest format.<\/p>\n

In his five Test appearances to date, Inglis has bounced around the middle order.<\/p>\n

He scored a century from No.5 on debut in Sri Lanka early last year.<\/p>\n

The West Australian filled in for Steve Smith at No.4 for a Test in the Caribbean, and then batted at No.7 in his three hits against England.<\/p>\n

With Smith settled at No.4, Cameron Green scoring a century at No.5 and fellow wicketkeeper Alex Carey starring at No.6 during the Ashes, dropping Weatherald or Labuschagne for Inglis would either force a reshuffle or Inglis would need to bat out of position.<\/p>\n

Australia’s Josh Inglis plays a shot on the fourth day of the third Ashes cricket Test match between Australia and England at the Adelaide Oval in Adelaide on December 20, 2025. (Photo by William WEST \/ AFP)Source: AFP<\/p>\n

That dilemma has faced Australia before with Smith having a stint opening the batting to accommodate Green at No.4.<\/p>\n

As well as Green batting at No.3 in the West Indies and the World Test Championship final, where Labuschagne opened, last year.<\/p>\n

To avoid such a situation, Waugh believes the selectors need to look to specialised top order players. <\/p>\n

\u201cJosh Inglis is in this squad,\u201d Waugh said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs he the next in line? To my eye, you\u2019ve got Matt Renshaw and Nathan McSweeney. I\u2019d have them two (ahead of Inglis).\u201d<\/p>\n

Renshaw trained with the Australian squad in Brisbane in the lead-up to this series.<\/p>\n

The left-hander scored three centuries and averaged 49.90 in six Shield appearances for Queensland last summer.<\/p>\n

White-ball commitments for Australia stopped his tally of 499 runs from becoming in the top echelon of the competition.<\/p>\n

Matthew Renshaw of Queensland leaves the field at the end of innings during the Sheffield Shield match between Queensland and New South Wales at The Gabba, on February 10, 2025, in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Chris Hyde\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n

While a call-up would be more logistically challenging for McSweeney.<\/p>\n

\u201c(McSweeney) would have to get on a plane pretty quickly,\u201d Waugh said.<\/p>\n

The 27-year-old, who opened the batting in three Tests against India the summer before last, is currently playing county cricket in England for Northamptonshire, under former Australian coach Darren Lehmann.<\/p>\n

McSweeney has scored 589 runs at 49.08 in the second division of the County Championship this season, including three centuries.<\/p>\n

Nathan McSweeney of Australia bats during day one of the Third Test match in the series between Australia and India at The Gabba on December 14, 2024 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n

He has been mainly batting at No.4 for Northamptonshire, but typically walks out at No.3 as captain of South Australia.<\/p>\n

McSweeney scored a crucial half-century from first drop in the Sheffield Shield final, won by South Australia, in March.<\/p>\n

He managed 477 runs at 28.05, including a century last Shield season, but Warner believes McSweeney is Australia\u2019s long-term solution.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s your No.3 for me,\u201d Warner said.<\/p>\n

Waugh then added: \u201cRenshaw could open. He has opened for Australia before.\u201d<\/p>\n

Australia’s ‘Next Gen’ of Batters | 05:37<\/p>\n

The weight of such a change is not lost on Waugh, however.<\/p>\n

Even with Australia having at least 19 more Tests to play across the next 12 months, Waugh believes axing Weatherald and Labuschagne would rule a line through them for good.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Weatherald and Marnus go, they\u2019re not coming back,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a selector, you know that\u2019s the end of their career at Test level.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Australian selector Mark Waugh believes it is a \u201c50\/50 call\u201d on whether Jake Weatherald and Marnus Labuschagne…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":740326,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[1721,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-740325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket","tag-cricket","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/740325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=740325"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/740325\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/740326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=740325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=740325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=740325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}