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SELECT 👉 Hagley Oval commentaryWhy selectors shouldn't have Marnus opening for Ashes
SEN • October 20th, 2025 6:29 pm
With Marnus Labuschagne playing some of his best cricket, Gerard Whateley believes that the Australian selectors need to avoid upsetting the apple cart and play him at three should he be selected.
After being dropped following the World Test Championship, Labuschagne has made sure to deliver a statement to selectors at the start of the domestic summer.
Having played five matches for Queensland (all at three), he has already managed four centuries, which sees him lead the Sheffield Shield and place second in the One Day Cup for runs.
This has already seen Labuschagne recalled into the ODI squad against India and now sees him firming to make his Test return for the first Ashes Test in Perth.
But when asked by Robert Craddock as to whether the Queenslander is the favourite to open with Usman Khawaja, the esteemed sports broadcaster hopes that the selectors play him in his preferred batting position of three to help allow Australia’s batting line-up to work at its best.
“I wish they wouldn’t,” he said on SEN’s Whateley.
“I sincerely wish, they wouldn’t.
“Australia’s batting works when he’s at three. I’m a bit sick of just trying to shuffle things around to cover a deficiency.
“Just put him back at three and let him return to being the best batter in the world.”
While Whateley wants to see the Queensland representative continue at three, Labuschagne has already said that he is willing to bat in any position if called up.
"Wherever the selectors and the coach put me, that's where I'll be batting," he told Fox Cricket on Sunday.
"But I mean, I've batted my whole career for Australia at three. So there's nothing more to be said, it's wherever they put me is where I bat."
Labuschagne is likely to remain with the ODI squad throughout the remainder of the series.
That concludes on October 25, which would then allow him to feature in Queensland’s Sheffield Shield match against New South Wales on October 28 to continue his preparations for the Ashes.
The five-match series between Australia and England will get underway from November 21 in Perth, with SEN having LIVE coverage of every ball bowled throughout the series on its radio network and the SEN app.
