Australia make big call on former No.1 ranked Test batter

Australia have confirmed former No.1 ranked Test batter Marnus Labuschagne won't be considered for selection for their upcoming four-match ICC World Test Championship series against New Zealand.

Labuschagne has struggled for form in recent times, with the right-hander managing just 131 runs from six innings during Australia's recent three-game series in South Africa and you have to go way back to 2023 to find the last time he scored a Test century.

It's been a fall of grace for Labuschagne since he reached the pinnacle for Test batters in 2021 when he was ranked as the No.1 batter in the world, with the 32-year-old now slipping back to equal 40th in the category.

With one month until the start of that series against New Zealand in Perth on 9 December, Australia have decided to make an early call on the short-term future of Labuschagne with selection Chair George Bailey confirming the out of form right-hander won't be considered for the trans-Tasman series.

"At this stage we won't be considering Marn (Labuschagne) for selection for certainly that first Test, but for the New Zealand series," Bailey said on Monday. 

"There's been a lot of speculation around his place in the team, and so I think this gives him a little bit of space and clears up a bit of conjecture as we work through the next round of Shield cricket."

Australia currently sit in third place on the World Test Championship standings and will be looking for a bunch of positive results against the Kiwis to try and boost their chances of reaching next year's final at The Oval in June.

The Aussies also have a five-match series with India in the sub-continent to negotiate at the start of next year, while the team will take on England in the eagerly awaited battle for The Ashes in the middle of 2027 and following the World Test Championship Final - should they qualify.

Bailey suggested the door was still open for Labuschagne to make a return to the Test side in the future, especially with a tour to India and a visit to England all on the horizon during a busy stretch of Test cricket in 2027.

"It's still possible, absolutely," Bailey added. 

"And I think we all know how good and how effective Marnus can be at his best. But that performance hasn't been there. 

"I think he's missed some opportunities, some promising starts in Darwin and even in South Africa as well, to go on and get a big score that we'd like and would have liked for some time, and that just hasn't happened. 

"But I don't think we've ever ruled anyone out permanently ... and that's no different in this case."

Australia are yet to name their squad for the series against New Zealand, with Bailey indicating his side has a group of players currently outside the Test setup that are putting their hand up for selection.

"There's a handful of players that are really well placed at the moment as we work through that over the next week or so to finalise how we think that squad in particular will structure up, and the options we'll have within that," Bailey added.

Series schedule:

First Test: December 9-13, Perth
Second Test: December 17-21, Adelaide
Third Test: December 26-30, Melbourne
Fourth Test: January 4-8, Sydney