Australia drops Marnus Labuschagne from New Zealand Test squad
Labuschagne, dropped for the second time in 17 months, says he has no doubt he will return to the Test side.
Marnus Labuschagne will not be considered for Australia's Test series against New Zealand in December, Cricket Australia said on Monday.
Selection chief George Bailey made the decision after Labuschagne ended a century-less series in South Africa with scores of 0 and 4 in the Cape Town decider.
He has now batted 49 times since his last Test century, scored in Manchester in 2023, and has made 1,094 runs at an average of 24.31 in that span.
The Queenslander has been dropped twice in 17 months, and he has played 63 of Australia's 66 Tests since 2019.
Labuschagne told reporters in Brisbane on Tuesday that he sees the setback as a chance to step back from scrutiny and play for Queensland again.
"I've got no doubt I will be back there. When? Who knows."
He said his aim is to win games and score runs for Queensland, and that his path back into the national team would work itself out.
He defended his Test form, pointing to six scores above 30 in 11 innings and saying his mistakes came under pressure.
Last summer, Labuschagne was also out of the Test side before scoring 160 and 159 in back-to-back Sheffield Shield matches, which earned him a return for the Ashes opener in Perth.
This time the turnaround is much tighter, with less than two weeks between the end of the South Africa series and the first ball of his next Shield match on Wednesday.
He will captain the Bulls against ladder-leaders Tasmania at the Gabba this week, before playing NSW at the SCG and Victoria at the MCG ahead of the Big Bash break.
Australia's first Test against New Zealand begins on Dec. 9 at Perth Stadium, with the second, third and fourth Tests following at Adelaide Oval, the MCG and the SCG.