Marnus Labuschagne's Test spot under massive scrutiny

Labuschagne’s scores in four innings of the ongoing South Africa tour read: 37, 37, 14 and 39. He had entered the series on the back of disappointing outings against Bangladesh, where he fell for single digits in two of the three innings. Labuschagne hasn't scored a Test hundred in 47 innings, a period spanning over three years, and gave away his wicket at a crucial moment in the second innings of the Gqeberha Test, when Australia were trying to save the match.

Naturally, the scrutiny on his spot has increased further, with his former teammate Usman Khawaja suggesting there are multiple candidates from the Sheffield Shield 'doing the same as Marnus', who could potentially take his spot in the Test team.

“We've got plenty of players in Sheffield Shield cricket who are very good players, who are pretty much averaging and doing the same as Marnus in that respect,” Khawaja said on Fox Cricket. “You've got Kurtis Patterson right now who is scoring the house down. Marnus averages 38 in Sheffield Shield cricket, Kurtis is about 39. He's just scored a hundred, he's been scoring runs the other day.

“Peter Handscomb, 39, terrific player. Cameron Bancroft, only 32 years old, also at 38 (average). You have Marcus Harris as well. These are all Test players. Jack Clayton, who is a young guy that I played with. He’s scored six centuries averaging 38 and no one talks about him.”

"So the narrative of when people devalue Shield cricket, it frustrates me because I'm like, OK, if Marnus is good enough to play for Australia with that Sheffield Shield record, why can't any of these guys play?" Khawaja further argued.

How Khawaja's candidates to replace Labuschagne stack up

All but one of the five names that Khawaja has pitched have previously played Test cricket for Australia. Patterson’s two appearances in the format came in 2019 against Sri Lanka, when he also smashed a century. Overall, he has played 122 first-class matches so far and has begun the ongoing Shield season with a century and a fifty in three innings.

Handscomb has played 20 Tests for Australia, with both his hundreds in the format coming from No.5, though he hasn't featured in Tests for three years now. His recent run of form leaves a lot to be desired as well. He recently bagged a pair in the unofficial Test series against India A, and hasn't scored a fifty in his last 10 matches across formats, dating back to Feabruary this year. But he was the top-scorer in the previous Shield season, with 724 runs in 11 matches.

Bancroft and Harris, with 10 and 14 Test appearances, respectively, haven't enjoyed the best of forms recently as well. The latter scored twin fifties in his latest Shield outing, ending a run of 12 innings without a 50+ score in first-class cricket. Bancroft, meanwhile, was the third-highest scorer in last Shield season, but is yet to hit the straps this term.

Clayton, the only uncapped player among Khawaja's candidates, has 2472 runs at 38 in 42 first-class matches, with six centuries and 14 fifties. He has also started the ongoing domestic season in style, hitting three fifties in six matches across formats.

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