The discussion around the Australian team’s age and form has only intensified, as the playing XIs in the Durban and St George’s Park Tests did not feature a single player under the age of 30.
Former Australian cricketer Michael Hussey has weighed in on calls for more young talent to be included in an ageing Australian side, saying Test cricket is not a format in which to “blood someone” but one that requires players to earn the prestigious Baggy Green cap. He also said that amid the hype surrounding young players after a few good innings, he wants to see a consistent body of work before they are considered for selection. Ahead of the final day of the second Test, Australia are just six wickets away from an embarrassing innings defeat that would level the series.
Having last scored a Test century during the 2023 Ashes tour of the UK, Labuschagne has gone 25 Tests without a hundred. During that period, he has amassed 1,090 runs in 47 innings at an average of 25.34, with nine fifties and a highest score of 90. “We want to see consistent, high-level performances. It was really pleasing to see Sam Konstas score two really good scores in Perth in the recent Shield game. I think he is someone who definitely has to be on the radar, and he is starting to build a body of work.”
The inconsistent form of batters, particularly Marnus Labuschagne, and the advancing age of the pace trio of Mitchell Starc, skipper Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, have raised concerns in Australian cricket circles about the team’s future beyond the 2025-27 ICC World Test Championship cycle. Speaking to Fox Sports, Hussey, one of cricket’s most notable late bloomers, who made his international debut at 28 and earned his maiden Test cap at 30, said: “It is all good and well saying get rid of the 30-plus guys, but who are you going to bring in? Because someone’s 33 years of age,” he said, but if that pressure has not come consistently from below, then no, I would not be making changes just for the sake of it.
Hussey also said that if someone is being picked for Test cricket simply to find out whether they are good enough, they are being selected for the wrong reasons. I have always been a believer that you do not just blood someone in Test match cricket. They need to have earned that spot. Instead, the key question should be whether they can help win matches from the outset. “If you have got players that are absolutely banging the door down at the level below and putting enormous pressure on, then yeah, definitely (make changes).
