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Australia must field a vastly-different batting lineup for the upcoming Tests against India with both Marsh brothers dropped and Matt Renshaw replacing the injured Usman Khawaja.
Khawaja reportedly could miss up to two months of cricket as he undergoes expected knee surgery after injuring himself during the second Test, which Australia lost by a whopping 373 runs.
Set a massive target of 538, Australia could muster only 164 with the Marsh brothers again failing, taking their collective efforts for the series to a deplorable 44 runs at an average of 5.5.
Australia have now gone five Tests without a win and in that time the Marshes have, quite incredibly, contributed just 192 runs at an average of 9.6.
It will be an embarrassing cop out by Australia’s selection panel if either man is allowed to retain their place for the first Test against India in just over six weeks from now.
Although both Marshes remain good white ball options for Australia, 35-year-old Shaun has reached the end of the road as a Test cricketer and his younger brother has had more than enough chances for now.
Mitchell Marsh and Shaun Marsh (Photo by Lee Warren/Gallo Images/Getty Images)
Fortunately for Australia, they still have plenty of batsmen in domestic cricket who have shown ability at Test level or who are exciting Test prospects.
The likes of Joe Burns, Matt Renshaw and Glenn Maxwell each have excellent Test tons to their names, to go with fine first-class records. All three of them deserve to be in Australia’s team for the first Test against India, form permitting.
Aaron Finch is a lock for those home Tests after a solid debut series in the UAE, where he scored 181 runs at 45 despite having to open the batting against the world’s in-form Test bowler Mohammad Abbas.
Meanwhile, Travis Head and Labuschagne gave some reason for optimism about their future Test prospects, the former with his valiant 72 to help Australia draw the first Test and the latter with his accurate leg spin.
Head’s 197-minute vigil at Dubai was imbued with the kind of patience and determination Australia desperately need in their batting unit.
In the second Test he wasted a pair of starts but, overall, Head has looked in good nick in this series. The 24-year-old has made nearly 1,500 runs at 44 in first-class cricket over the past year, while also contributing well for Australia in ODIs. Head deserves to keep his spot for the first Test against India.
Labuschagne, meanwhile, did less to earn his Test debut than Head, and then made just 81 runs at 20 against Pakistan.
The one positive, on the batting front, was that Labuschagne improved as the series wore on, and was fluent in both knocks in the second Test. In the second innings he was out for 43 to a risky hook shot, trying to up the ante with only bunnies left as batting partners.
In the first dig he cruised to 25 before donating his wicket with his now infamous run-out at the non-striker’s end.
All in all, Labuschagne clearly did not do enough with the bat to cement his Test spot. But if the selectors are insistent on having a strong fifth bowling option for the home Tests then Labuschagne is a better choice than Mitch Marsh right now.
Marnus Labuschagne of Australia celebrates his first Test wicket. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
With seven wickets at 22 for the series Labuschagne was a revelation, outperforming Pakistan’s star leggie Yasir Shah, who could manage only eight wickets at 37 against a vulnerable Australian batting lineup.
Head should get to play to play two Shield matches before the next Test squad is picked, while Labuschagne has a chance to push his credentials over the next three rounds of the Shield. I expect the selectors will announce the Test squad after the end of the fourth round of the Shield, which finishes 16 days before the India series begins.
That leaves a lot of time for domestic batsmen to vault to the front of the Test queue, even ones who have never previously been spoken of as Test candidates. Australia’s bizarre selections for the UAE tour means it now wouldn’t shock me if against India we see debuts from truly left-field candidates who manage to pile up Shield runs over the next month.
Unfortunately for Maxwell, his limited overs international commitments mean he likely will be restricted to playing only in the fourth round of the Shield. Looking forward to next month, I can already imagine the selectors justifying Maxwell’s omission from the squad to take on India by pointing to his lack of game time with the red ball.
They will have an even more difficult time trying to explain themselves if they make the ridiculous decision of sticking with the Marsh brothers.