Marnus Labuschagne doubtful, Usman Khawaja to get another chance after ICC WTC 2023-25 final

Marnus Labuschagne opened with Usman Khawaja for Australia in the ICC WTC 2023-25 final.

The clamors of restructuring have begun in Australian cricket in the aftermath of losing the final of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 to South Africa at Lord’s on June 14.

Australia were favored going into the ICC WTC 2023-25 final against South Africa, primarily because of their stellar ICC record and their illustrious bowling lineup, which included Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, and Nathan Lyon.

Despite having a wealth of seasoned and game-changing batsmen, Australia’s batting unit also possessed a champion pedigree, but they all fell flat in the final.

Travis Head (11), Cameron Green (4), Alex Carey (23), Marnus Labuschagne (17), and Usman Khawaja (0) all did not perform well in the first innings. Usman Khawaja (6), Beau Webster (9), Travis Head (9), Steve Smith (13), Cameron Green (0), Marnus Labuschagne (22), and Cameron Green (0) all utterly failed in the second innings.

Andrew McDonald speaks on the future of Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne in the Australia test setup

With Sam Konstas adamant about a test recall in the West Indies after Australia’s ICC WTC 2023-25 final loss at the Lord’s, Marnus Labuschagne’s place is looking more and more doubtful. Usman Khawaja has been favored to play in the Ashes later this year.

“It was a big discussion leading into this Test match, and I was on the record a couple of weeks ago talking about the need to bed down that opening combination. We’ve had a bit of musical chairs there, so it might be the time,” McDonald was quoted by ESPNCricinfo.

After being promoted to open with Khawaja at the Lord’s, Labuschagne finished with scores of 17 and 22, giving him a WTC cycle average of 27.82.

“He’s a big part of the future of the team. Anyone who averages 45 or 46 in Test cricket at that age is important. We’ve got older players there that are closer to the end than the start. We’ve got some younger players coming in.

“If he can get his game in good order for the next four or five years, he can underpin that batting order. But at the moment, he’d be disappointed with the returns. He’s missed out on big scores,” he added.

Despite scoring a career-high 232 against Sri Lanka three tests ago, Khawaja’s twin dismissals to Kagiso Rabada at the Lord’s have brought him back into the spotlight due to his ongoing issues with pace bowling. Nevertheless, it appears that he will likely be given the same run allowance as David Warner when his status was questioned in the later stages of his career.

“He’s on contract; he’s an important player. He gives us stability at his best at the top. And we like to look at our players at their best. No doubt, a couple of failures here, and people then start to talk about maybe it’s the end. I don’t see an end date with the way he’s training, the way he’s preparing, and the way he’s moving. He went back to Shield cricket and got 100 last [season]. So I think he’s got plenty of runs left in him. It’ll come down to his inner drive and the way he prepares,” the Australian coach said.

“It was a bit the same with Davey as well. The way he moved, we saw some positives in that. We knew that the runs were around the corner. We feel as though Usman’s got a big part to play,” the coach signed off.

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