Source :- THE AGE NEWS
Marnus Labuschagne’s batting advisor has conceded it may be best for the struggling Test cricketer to be dropped for next month’s series against New Zealand, but refused to comment when asked whether mixed messages from Australian team coaches had impacted the No.3’s career.
Neil D’Costa, a long-time batting guru who also helped mould the careers of Michael Clarke and Phillip Hughes, said Labuschagne, 32, needed to determine whether his batting issues over the past three years were a result of technique, execution or tactics.
Close observers of Labuschagne at a domestic level have also questioned whether Labuschagne’s shift to batting on off-stump had played a role in his poor campaign in a 2-1 series loss to South Africa, where he made only 121 runs at 21.83, and has now gone more than three years without a Test century.
“I really think it’s a case that Marnus has over-thought this and tried so hard, he has spun himself around that many times, he doesn’t know where he is at,” D’Costa told this masthead on Tuesday.
“He [Labuschagne] may not like me saying that, he may not think that has happened – I think that is what has happened. When you get to a stage where you must be second-guessing yourself, we wonder whether a break, maybe even earlier, would have been the right thing to do.
“He has been a successful professional player for a long time. Is it technique, is tactics, is it execution? He has to come up with what the answer is, and go for it. I think, at times, it really has been, some people say one thing, some people say the other, and some people say the other. Then you start to think if it’s not this, and it’s not that, or it’s not this, then if you don’t know what actually is it – you’re lost.
“It might be time to pull the cart off the racetrack, rebuild the engine from scratch and go again … right now, I think that might be the healthiest for him, too, and maybe the team, too. Every week, putting up with: ‘This is it’, and everyone knowing that as well – that’s way too much for one person, right?”
Labuschagne’s Test average has dived from a peak of 63.43 in his 14th Test after scoring 215 against New Zealand in the 2020 New Year’s Test, this corresponding with his highest strike rate of 56.52, to now averaging 42.64 after 68 Tests, with a strike rate of 52.14. Since the start of 2023, he has averaged 28.87 with one century.
He was the top-ranked batter in the world in 2023, but found himself dropped in the Caribbean in 2025 before quickly returning.
The South African native has been encouraged at different stages by team management – including coach and selector Andrew McDonald – to show greater intent at the crease, with the now dethroned world champions keen to score at a quicker rate. Michael Di Venuto is the team’s batting coach.
Asked if this messaging had impacted Labuschagne’s natural game, D’Costa replied: “I would rather not comment on all of that.”
His recent form issues have corresponded with a decision to switch from taking guard on leg stump with a pre-move just as the bowler delivers the ball, or directly on middle stump, to now taking guard on off-stump, giving him less opportunity to survive lbw appeals and reviews, while also exposing his leg stump. He was bowled twice behind his legs in the Top End series against Bangladesh in August.
D’Costa also did not wish to comment when asked why Labuschagne had changed his guard.
Cricket Australia was contacted for comment.
D’Costa added if the cricketing adage remains that “runs are currency”, then Labuschagne was likely to be axed for the four-Test campaign against the Black Caps, for he had also been given ample opportunities.
“If runs are currency, Marnus has to be dropped, doesn’t he, but if you are going to pick Nic Maddinson, you are throwing that away, aren’t you?” D’Costa said.
Maddinson was a shock recall for the South Africa tour despite not having played a red-ball game for more than a year. He was dumped after two Tests.
“If he [Labuschagne] was to be let go, it would be no surprise to me, or even to him. He is hungry enough, he is fit enough, he is certainly disciplined enough to go away and find out if it’s technique, execution, or tactics. Once he works that [out], he will score heavy runs, no doubt,” D’Costa said.
“He is [32] now, but he is a very young [32]… tremendous amount of energy, tremendous cricket brain.”
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Jon Pierik is a sports journalist at The Age. He covers AFL and has won awards for his cricket and basketball writing.Connect via X or email.
