Australian cricket chairman of selectors George Bailey has confirmed Marnus Labuschagne will not be considered for selection when it comes time to pick the squad for the first Test against New Zealand.
Labuschagne, who was considered lucky to be included on the plane to South Africa, had a dismal series in the African nation.
He made just 131 runs across the three Tests, with scores of 0 and 4 in the decider at Cape Town - when Australia needed a lot more from their top order - and calls for him to be dropped have been unrelenting ever since.
Bailey, speaking to the media on Monday, has now confirmed that will be the way it plays out.
“At this stage we won't be considering 'Marn' for selection for certainly that first Test, but for the New Zealand series,” Bailey said.
“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.”
The South African disaster followed Labuschagne's horrific form against Bangladesh in the top end of the country just weeks earlier, and the batsman will now have to work his way back through a prolonged stint with Queensland in the Sheffield Shield.
Bailey said Labuschagne could still work his way back.
“It's still possible, absolutely,” he said. “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.”
Exactly who replaces him remains up in the air, but Sam Harper was on the tour to South Africa and could be an option, while the upcoming rounds of the Sheffield Shield will paint the picture around who may earn selection.
