Dead man walking: Time up for Marnus after five-ball failure

Marnus Labuschagne has once again failed to deliver, falling for a five-ball duck against South Africa in Australia’s Test decider in Cape Town.

His form has remained in question for several years, without a Test ton since 2023 and without 40 runs in a single Test innings this season.

That said, selectors opted to keep Marnus in the side ahead of Australia’s decider, and after his first duck of the season and third innings with less than five runs, the nation’s number three may have finally ran out of time.

Coming to the crease after a formidable opening innings from Travis Head, Marnus’ stint proved a short but difficult watch.

Shot for confidence, Labuschagne was never able to find his groove, edging off-spinner Simon Harmer to Aiden Markram at first slip.

Cricket expert Bharat Sundaresan – who has watched Marnus closely for a number of years – saw it coming before the day’s play commenced.

“I’ve got to know Marnus for a long time,” he told SEN Cricket.

“I know him very well. I would even call him a friend.

“I have never seen him more tense or intense than he was this morning. He looked like he could have been out on any of those deliveries.

“He’s just completely out of sorts.”

The sentiment was echoed by SEN’s Tom Morris.

“He walked out the bat, and it was a classic shot of someone whose mind is frazzled, whose confidence is shot and who simply is not watching the ball,” Morris told SEN’s Summer Run.

“He didn't read the length and he just pretty much prodded it to first slip, an innocuous off-spinner.

“Marnus is just a dead man walking now, really, unless he can make some runs in the second innings, but he has been for ages.

“To a large degree, I think it's on the selectors. How long can you continue to reward mediocrity?

“And it's not like there hasn't been other batters out there. Look at what Josh Inglis has come in and done.

“I think it should be a lesson for the Australian cricket community and more specifically the hierarchy that if you reward mediocrity, you're not going to get any change.

“And unfortunately, I think even Marnus would know now that his days are numbered.”

Marnus’ dip in form isn’t a recent revelation.

Between Test number 35 through to Test 68, Labuschagne’s batting average sits at just 28.29, more than 30 runs lower than his average across his first 34 Test matches.

While his time in the side is almost certainly up, Morris believes it’s the best thing for him and for his career to spend time out of the international setup.

“It's best for him if he doesn't play,” Morris continued.

“That's what gets missed in these things. It's actually best for him if he goes away, he's out of the national system for a bit, refreshes, and he's young enough to get back in.

“But they've persisted and persisted. 48 Test innings without a century is more than any other player in Australian history who bats in the top four consecutively.

“He's breaking records of the wrong kind. He's done and there'll be a new number three for the New Zealand series.

“Let's hope it's someone who's in form at Shield level.”

Australia ended Day Two in a strong position, leading by one run with six wickets remaining in the first innings.

Play recommences at 7:30pm AEDT on Thursday night, with all the action ball-by-ball live on SEN.