Pat Cummins has seen enough in the nets to back Marnus Labuschagne for the second Test against Bangladesh in Mackay. The Australia captain said he has bowled at Labuschagne in training over the past week and believes the 32-year-old is batting as well as he has in a long time.
Labuschagne has not scored a Test century in 42 innings. His last hundred came against England at Manchester in July 2023. Since then he has averaged 25.32 with nine fifties.
In his last nine Test innings alone, he has managed 166 runs at 18.44.
He scored 1 and 31 in the first Test in Darwin, where Bangladesh beat Australia by nine wickets for their first-ever Test win on Australian soil. Ricky Ponting had called for changes to Australia’s top order after the defeat.
“I know it’s only training and centre wickets and match simulations, but I thought he’s been as sharp as he has for a long time. That’s me bowling at him and getting that feedback. Looks like he’s really getting himself back into the ball, putting pressure back on the bowler, making it really difficult to kind of get out.”
Pat Cummins, press conference, August 21, 2026
“Looks like he’s really getting himself back into the ball, putting pressure back on the bowler, making it really difficult to kind of get out” 🗣️ Cummins on Labuschagne pic.twitter.com/6k2j2w3DEY
— Cricinfo (@cricinfo) August 21, 2026
Cummins called last week’s failure “a bit of a blip” and told reporters the message to Labuschagne was simple: trust the last six months of work and do not reinvent the wheel.
Head coach Andrew McDonald offered a different read. Speaking after the Darwin loss, McDonald acknowledged Labuschagne’s second-innings method looked improved: moving well, clipping off his pads, driving back through the ball.
But McDonald did not hide behind the process.
“So it’s easy for me to sit here and try to defend that, but ultimately it’s 31. It’s not a big score. He’s lacked runs. He feels that. We feel that.”
Andrew McDonald, press conference, August 17, 2026
McDonald added that the coaching staff needed to take responsibility too, not just the player. A captain and a coach publicly assessing the same batter and landing in different places tells you the debate inside Australia’s setup is real.
Cummins framed Labuschagne’s form as close to his best. McDonald framed the same form as not enough. Both are telling the truth. The gap between those two positions is where the pressure sits heading into Mackay.
Insider Read
Cummins described Labuschagne in specific bowling language: getting back into the ball, putting pressure on the bowler, making it difficult to get out. That is not captain’s diplomacy. That is a fast bowler describing a batter whose front foot commitment is back and whose weight transfer is forward into the line of the delivery.
When a batter does that, the bowler’s margin shrinks. There is no width outside off stump to exploit, no hanging back to target with length. The scoring areas open up and the bowler has to be perfect.
The problem is where this version of Labuschagne exists. In the nets, there is no dismissal. There is no consequence for the one ball that nips back or seams away. Labuschagne has reached 30 in three of his last four Test innings and failed to convert any of them. He is getting in. He is not cashing in. That gap between set and substantial is not a technique problem. It is a threshold that training cannot replicate.
What Mackay Means
Australia need to win the second Test at the Great Barrier Reef Arena to square the series. It is the first Test match ever played at the ground.
Jake Weatherald was dropped after scoring 23 and 0 in Darwin. Australia’s search for a settled opening partner since David Warner’s retirement has now cycled through seven names. Matt Renshaw was recalled as Weatherald’s replacement.
Weatherald’s axing was expected. Labuschagne’s retention was the bigger call. Mark Waugh had questioned whether Labuschagne’s career trajectory justified continued selection, and Ponting said someone needed to be dropped after Darwin.
If he fails again in Mackay, selectors will have kept faith through a 44-innings century drought across two separate recalls. At 32, after 64 Tests, a second dropping would make a return to Test cricket extremely difficult.
Cummins is betting that what he sees from 22 yards away in practice is about to translate. McDonald is hoping the same thing but has already put the reality on record. The numbers say Labuschagne is running out of time. His captain says the time is now.
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