Australia’s selection puzzle deepens after Gqeberha debacle
Green and Inglis are poised to return, but the bigger questions revolve around Labuschagne’s place in the order, Smith’s fitness and the balance between Boland and Lyon
The irony is that Australia kicked off the second Test in Gqeberha with a selection storm. When Scott Boland was picked in the XI ahead of Nathan Lyon on a gloomy and wet Sunday afternoon. It at least felt like an all too familiar, especially one that they’ve dealt with nearly half-a-dozen times over the last 12 months. In reality, it worked out more than effectively. Boland not only starred with the ball snaring his third fifth-wicket haul in Test cricket. He also then batted with gumption and fortitude to give Australia genuine hope, soaking in 166 deliveries under immense pressure.
But as Australia succumbed to the ignominy of an innings defeat under fading light at St George’s Park, Boland v Lyon selection call seemed a distant memory. There was a litany of other selectorial quandaries that had emerged in the wake of probably the worst defeat in the Pat Cummins era. So, let’s look at some of the options that Australia have up their sleeve as they prepare to fix the wrongs of a forgettable three days in Gqeberha ahead of the third Test in Cape Town.
Ring in the changes:
There are three potential straight swaps available to the selectors now that Josh Inglis and Cameron Green have more or less been ruled fit to be available for Cape Town. Starting with the return of the two Western Australians at the expense of Nic Maddinson and Marnus Labuschagne. That’ll mean Matthew Renshaw will have to go back to open alongside Travis Head with Green at No. 3 and Inglis slotting in at No. 5. The last time Green played as a specialist batter, last year at the World Test Championship final and in the Caribbean, he did replace Labuschagne at one-drop. Inglis, meanwhile, got his debut Test ton in Galle batting at No. 5. The third change in this scenario would be Cooper Connolly, who was originally picked as the reserve batter/all-rounder, coming in for the under-firing Beau Webster.
Make changes but without shifting the core by leaving Marnus in:
Maddinson, unfortunately, will miss out in every permutation you can think of. So, there’s still a possibility of Renshaw being bumped up to open with Green coming back in at No 5, where he scored a career-defining century as recently as August in Darwin. Webster therefore will miss out allowing Inglis to come back at No 7, where he batted in a couple of Tests during the Ashes, owing to the team management’s keenness to keep Alex Carey at No 6, where he has been largely consistent. This would mean the lack of an all-rounder but at a time Australia’s batting needs more strengthening than their bowling, this might be a conservative option to go with.
While Cummins did speak about Labuschagne’s continued issues with getting past the 30s - his scores in this series so far reading 37, 37, 14, 39 - he stopped short of dropping any hints around the Queenslander’s time having run out. The 32-year-old’s selection for this tour was heavily criticised in many quarters and despite getting three starts where he’s faced over 58 balls in each one of them, Labuschagne has done nothing to quell those concerns around the selectors’ incessant trust in him coming good. But there was a sentiment around the need to give him all three Tests, which they might still stick with.
The Marnus to open solution?
Though this might seem radical in the moment, getting Labuschagne to open and have Green come back at No. 3 is a formula that Australia employed at Lord’s against Rabada & Co in June 2025. It will surely cause a major stir around cricket circles in the country, but this could be in play if the selectors are convinced that they don’t want to move Renshaw from No. 5 after his heroics in Durban, even if he couldn’t back it up at St George’s Park, where he was one of three Aussie batters to get out twice on Day 4. That would still leave the door open for the Inglis versus Connolly debate with it being rather likely that Webster misses out regardless. Labuschagne’s returns at Lord’s were meagre in terms of runs but he did succeed in seeing off the new ball in both innings against a similar attack to what South Africa will present at Newlands. But even if it won’t be the most popular call this team management have made, it could still be looked at as a makeshift, even one-off, ploy to not shuffle too many cards around and also send a message to Labuschagne that he is no longer the incumbent at No. 3 as seemed to be the case at the WTC final.
Worst case scenario if Steve Smith doesn’t feel good enough to play:
While there were no indications from Pat Cummins about his batting mainstay potentially being unavailable for the decider, there will be a lot of attention on Smith over the next four days as Australia prepare to come back from the hammering they’ve received in Gqeberha. The visitors will have their fingers crossed over the 37-year-old, who got to his 11,000th run on the Eastern Cape, and his movements with hopes that they’ll have Smith fit and hungry to go at a venue where his life changed forever eight and half years ago.
But if there is a late backout, then that should ensure that Labuschagne keeps his place in the team as the senior batter in the middle. The question then revolves around whether Green gets the coveted No. 4 slot that he’s destined to occupy for the rest of his career once Smith hangs up his boots. Or if they drop Labuschagne one position down and hope that it helps him resurrect his career that with every wasted start hangs by a thread. Inglis in this scenario as well might have to be content with No 7 if he is brought in with Webster the man to make way.
That is before we return to the inevitable Boland versus Lyon debate.
