Marnus Labuschagne has sent chief selector George Bailey a strong indication that he is ready for a return to the Test side with a fine century for Queensland against Tasmania in the Sheffield Shield at Allan Border Field. Resuming on 54 not out, Queensland skipper Labuschagne broke a 14-month first class century drought on Monday before lunch on day three, reaching his milestone off 154 balls. He went on to score 160 off 205 balls as Queensland pushed their first innings lead past 50, before his flamboyance got the better of him, edging a reverse sweep into the gloves of Jake Doran off switch-bowling spinner Nivethan Radhakrishnan.
It is the 31-year-old's 33rd first-class ton, but first since he scored 119 in the County Championship for Glamorgan against Gloucestershire at the Cheltenham Festival in July 2024. He has shown he is in good form with the bat this season though, scoring a 118-ball 130 in the One Day Cup against Victoria last month. Labuschagne's last Test century came in the 2023 Ashes Test at Old Trafford, a second innings 111.
Fellow Australian Test hopeful Matt Renshaw put himself at the forefront of the selectors' minds to fill the troublesome Test opener spot with a century on day two. Renshaw added just 14 to his overnight score of 114 to be out for 128. Renshaw's 14 Test career saw him score one century and average 29.31. His most recent match was against India at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi in 2023.
On day two, incumbent Test opener Usman Khawaja made 69 before he was caught behind off the bowling of Kieran Elliott. Jack Clayton also scored a half century on the third day in perfect conditions in Brisbane, before he was unfortunate to be given out LBW for 59 off the bowling of Nikhil Chaudhary, appearing to get a glove on the ball before it hit his pads. Queensland were eventually all out for 612, a lead of 233, as Nikhil Chaudhary took 5-104, while wicketkeeper Jake Doran took six catches. Tasmania will start day four on 1-62, Nivethan Radhakrishnan the only batter to fall.
Elsewhere, Sam Konstas (4), Nathan McSweeney (0) and Kurtis Patterson (8) all fell cheaply on the first day of their Shield matches. And things didn't get any better in the second innings for the New South Wales hopefuls, with both Konstas (14) and Patterson (4) failing again as the Blues struggled at the WACA after earning a 9-run first innings lead. In Adelaide, South Australia's skipper McSweeny could only score 6 after Victoria declared 7 runs short of parity in the first innings, with Marcus Harris scoring 61 before he was run out and Peter Handscombe 103 in the total of 9-343. South Australia ended the penultimate day on 5-169, a lead of 176 runs, thanks to an unbeaten, 87-run partnership between Daniel Drew (42) and Harry Nielsen (41).
Labuschagne, who has a Test average of 46.19, has not played for Australia in the longest form of the game since the World Test Championship final at Lord's in June. There, he managed scores of 17 and 22 in his first Test appearance as an opener, outscoring Queensland teammate Usman Khawaja (0 and 6) but did not do enough to make the squad for the three-Test series against the West Indies. Australia won all three of those Test matches in the Caribbean but made no headway in solving the opener issue. Konstas scored just 50 total runs in six innings at an average of just 8.33 — only bowlers Josh Hazlewood and Jayden Seales averaged less out of players who appeared in all three Tests. Khawaja fared little better in truth, scoring a
