Nathan Lyon and Marnus Labuschagne under pressure in Aussie XI as Ashes looms

Yahoo

8 hours ago

OPINION
Australian selectors could be forced to make a number of changes ahead of the Ashes at the end of the year with question marks hovering over Marnus Labuschagne and Nathan Lyon after the World Test Championship final. Despite making it to the showdown, and our bowlers dominating the first innings, the Aussie batters were no where to be seen when it mattered as South Africa claimed their maiden WTC final trophy.
Steve Smith was the only batter in the top six to surpass 50 runs in the Test and as it has so often been the case, the mercurial batter or bowlers were called upon to save the day for Australia. But this time it wasn't enough as the sun was shining and the bowlers couldn't make inroads on a dry pitch against a solid South African batting line-up.
The top three have come under particular scrutiny after failing to make any impact in the final at Lord's. Marnus Labuschagne's struggles continued with the bat, Usman Khawaja once again struggled against the quicks and Cameron Green looked underdone against a primed fast-bowling unit.
And pressure is mounting on the selectors to look at some changes ahead of the Ashes later this year. Arguably the player most under pressure is Labuschagne. Many could argue the Queenslander didn't deserve a position in the XI in the WTC final with his form across the last two years.
Instead of rewarding the form of other batters, Labuschagne was pushed up the order to open alongside Khawaja. In an atypical Aussie opening partnership, neither showed much intent across the two innings with the nation's innings starting off slowly.
Labuschagne fell for 17 and 22, which saw his century drought extend to almost 24 months. During the last two year WTC window, Labuschagne averaged just 27.82. There is growing calls for Labuschagne to go find form at domestic level, before returning to the side with fans knowing his potential. He still averages more than 45 in the Test arena.
Coach Andrew McDonald suggested the batter needs to find runs, but did not claim he is set to be dropped for the upcoming West Indies series. "He's a big part of the future of the team," McDonald said. "Anyone that averages (46.19) in Test cricket at that age (30) is important.
"We've got older players there that are closer to the end than the start. 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. We're confident that he could return to his best, hence why we keep picking him, and it's at what point do we stop picking him?"
Same goes for Khawaja. While the 38-year-old opener scored plenty of runs on the slow pitches of Sri Lanka he has struggled against quicks across the last 12 months. Jasprit Bumrah tormented him in Australia, while he struggled against New Zealand in 2024. And the opener only managed 0 and 7 in the final with Kagiso Rabada dismissing him on both occasions.
At 38 years old, Khawaja is coming to the end of his playing career and will be 39 by the time the series against England is finished. McDonald backed Khawaja as the pillar at the top of the order and one can expect him to remain for the Ashes series. This view was backed up by former Aussie captain Tim Paine who felt both Labuschagne and Khawaja deserve another chance.
'They're good players, they're world class. Steve Smith's (finger) injury means he won't play in the Windies first Test so Konstas comes in and Marnus drops back. We have heard them say when they have the spin pitches Travis Head would slide up and Marnus down," he said on SEN Radio.
'I see them going to the Windies and playing well and getting ready for a huge Ashes series. Usman and Marnus will play really, really important roles in the Ashes. We're very quick in this country to move on players, we always want to see if the grass is greener. If we have learnt nothing in the last 18 months, players of that quality are extremely hard to replace... You don't just have a bad Test in England and dump people like Uz and Marnus. They are a huge part of the team for the next year at least."
However, fast-bowler Damien Fleming suggested Cameron Green will shuffle back down the order having questioned his technique as a first-drop. "Cam Green, watch his technique, he's not technically efficient enough to bat at top 3 – these are specialist roles," Fleming said on SEN Radio when suggesting we got the make-up of the top three incorrect.
While Khawaja will most certainly see out the Ashes, Labuschagne could be the one to make way when Smith comes back and pushes Green back down the order where he has thrived in the past. Green is only 26 years old and was the only member of the Australian XI in his 20s in the last Test.
The batter was returning from injury and was clearly underdone, a potential bad call from the selectors, but will keep his place. This is why the selectors need to look at introducing the likes of Sam Konstas for the West Indies tour, so he is ready for the Ashes. Another option is Josh Inglis in the batting line-up. While he might get a chance in the West Indies, the return of Smith will make it hard for him to find a position in the line-up.
The other conundrum for Australia is Lyon's role. Lyon is Australia's greatest-ever off-spinner and has been an automatic selection for the last decade, but was mostly an afterthought during the 3-1 series against India. He only took nine wickets in the five matches at an average of 36.88, and bowled the third-most overs of all Aussies with 122.
And he was also unable to have an impact on the game at Lord's in the final. The 37-year-old only bowled eight overs in the first innings with figures of 0-12. And when Australia needed a breakthrough in the second-innings, with the pitch offering little for the quicks, Lyon hardly threatened.
Lyon bowled 26 overs and finished with figures of 0-66. Matthew Kuhnemann is ready to step in if the selectors opt to look to the future after outperforming Lyon in Sri Lanka. Although if this year's India series is anything to go by, the selectors could choose a horses for courses approach for the Ashes and even include Scott Boland as an extra quick.
This would mean Travis Head and Beau Webster could be used in tandem as the part-time off-spinners. Lyon took the vast majority of his nine wickets at the MCG against India and could very well retain his position. While it would be a bold call - and go against the Australian philosophy - if the pitches mirror the greens during the India series, quicks could be preferred.
Usman Khawaja
Sam Konstas
Steve Smith
Cameron Green
Travis Head
Beau Webster
Alex Carey
Pat Cummins
Mitchell Starc
Scott Boland
Josh Hazlewood