Australian batter Marnus Labuschagne has been left out of the selectors’ plans for the upcoming Test series against New Zealand, paying the price for a poor run of form. Labuschagne has had an extended period of disappointing performances, with the former world No. 1 Test batter struggling to rediscover the consistency. Selection chair George Bailey confirmed on Monday that Labuschagne would not be considered for the four-match Test series, which is scheduled to begin in Perth on December 9.

Labuschagne’s struggles in the longest format have been a major concern, with his last Test hundred coming during the 2023 Ashes series in England, where he slammed an impressive innings of 111 at Old Trafford. However, he has been unable to bring up three figures since then.

“At this stage we won’t be considering Marn for selection for certainly that first Test, but for the New Zealand series,” Bailey said.

“There’s been a lot of speculation around his place in the team, and so I think this gives him a little bit of space and clears up a bit of conjecture as we work through the next round of (Sheffield) Shield cricket.”

His struggles continued during Australia’s recent tour of South Africa. Across three matches, Labuschagne managed only 131 runs at an average of 21.83. Despite the axing, Bailey asserted that it is not the end of Marnus’ career in Test cricket. 

“It’s still possible, absolutely. And I think we all know how good and how effective Marnus can be at his best,” Bailey said. 

“But that performance hasn’t been there. I think he’s missed some opportunities, some promising starts in Darwin and even in South Africa as well, to go on and get a big score that we’d like and would have liked for some time, and that just hasn’t happened.”

“But I don’t think we’ve ever ruled anyone out permanently ... and that’s no different in this case.”