He was dropped from the Australia playing XI in their latest Test series in the West Indies.
Australian batter Marnus Labuschagne has hit a lean patch of form since the final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Series 2024-25 against India in January 2025. Though the right-hander started off the five-match series on a poor note in Perth with back-to-back single-digit returns, the 31-year-old quickly turned it around in the following fixtures to notch up 219 runs in his next five innings.
But even a player of Labuschagne’s calibre has failed to keep it going and again slumped to scores of two and six in the final Sydney Test to conclude the series, which Australia won 3-1.
Labuschagne’s rough patch also continued in the subcontinent as he put up just 50 runs combined in the two-match red-ball series in Sri Lanka in February.
Amidst this, the batter was also tried as the partner of Khawaja in a bid to solve Australia’s continued opening woes since David Warner’s retirement. But Labuschagne managed to score only 39 runs in the World Test Championship (WTC) 2025 Final while opening the innings with Khawaja.
This abysmal form saw Labuschagne get dropped from the Australia playing XI in their latest Test series in the West Indies, which the Aussies dominated throughout and whitewashed the opponent with a scoreline of 0-3. However, the 31-year-old is now looking to train smart to earn back his spot in the Aussie lineup for the upcoming Ashes 2025.
“There’s an analogy – you can try and bash yourself through the wall, or you can just open the door and walk in, [that means] train smarter. I’ve always trained hard. So if I can combine the clarity of mind, working with my coaches, working with the people around me to go, ‘Okay, how do we get myself back here?” he stated to Cricket.com.au.
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The fans are already buzzing in excitement for the Ashes 2025, which is set to kickstart on November 21. After levelling the prestigious series 2-2 in 2023, Australia would look to put up a similar performance while hosting England in about two months. Notably, Labuschagne had also started the five-match series with a duck and a 13 in the Ashes 2023 opener in Birmingham.
But the batter swiftly came back to his best and notched up 315 runs in the following four matches of the tournament, including a sublime 111 in Manchester. Previously, his 335 runs in five fixtures, including a 103-run knock in Adelaide, played a key role in Australia’s 4-0 Ashes win at home in 2021.
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