Under-fire batter Marnus Labuschagne was named in Australia’s Test squad for the South Africa tour starting next month.
The 32-year-old was dropped from the ODI squad last week after a run of poor returns with the bat, but has managed to keep his place for the longer format.
All-rounder Cooper Connolly, paceman Michael Neser and left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann have been added to the squad that drew the home Test series 1-1 against Bangladesh.
Labuschagne managed only 36 runs across three innings during that series, prompting many to call for his removal from number three in the batting order.
“Not shying away from the fact that we’d like some more runs from Marn, that’s clear. But we’re also confident that he can still make a positive contribution to that squad,” chief selector George Bailey told reporters.
“Our batting group in its entirety, not just Marn, probably hasn’t been functioning as successfully as we would like, but … we’ve continued to win a lot of test matches over that over that period, and that, ultimately, is the key, isn’t it?”
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Connolly hasn’t bowled for months due to injury, and Bailey said he has been picked predominantly for his middle-order batting. Neser, on the other hand, returns after having missed the Bangladesh series due to a calf injury.
“(He’s) sort of just be getting back to the point of getting reintegration back to bowling and getting those loads up over the next few weeks,” he said.
“But as it stands, barring any setbacks, the timeline is pretty clear that he should be right to go.”
Matt Renshaw, who was brought in to replace Jake Weatherald ahead of the second Test against Bangladesh, also retained his place.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve played test cricket over there. It’s two pretty strong teams, certainly two very, very strong bowling attacks, and I expect the fans to support that enthusiastically and watch some great cricket,” Bailey said.
Australia squad for South Africa Tests:
Pat Cummins (captain), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster
Published on Sep 07, 2026
