Labuschagne dropped as Australia names ODI squad for African series

Posted Tue 1 Sep 2026 at 9:51amTue 1 Sep 2026 at 9:51amMarnus Labuschagne has been left out of Australia's latest ODI squad. (Getty Images: Sameer Ali)In short:Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc will be part of Australia's ODI squad for the South African leg of their African one-day tour.World Cup winner Marnus Labuschagne has been left out of the squad, after being a feature in the national ODI team for several years.What's next?Australia will play a three-match series against Zimbabwe and South Africa later this month, before a Test series against South Africa.Australia has named its ODI squad for its back-to-back series in Zimbabwe and South Africa later this month, with World Cup winner Marnus Labuschagne among five players dropped.Australia are reigning ODI world champions, after a stunning final win over India in Ahmedabad in 2023.Labuschagne scored a half-century in that final, but his struggles since then have led to him being dropped from the ODI squad that will play in Africa, almost a year out from the next World Cup, which will be held in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.Labuschagne has missed five of Australia's previous 56 ODIs, but the 32-year-old has been dropped, along with Matt Short, Ben Dwarshuis, Todd Murphy and Liam Scott, from the squad picked to play in Pakistan and Bangladesh in May and June.Pat Cummins and Mitch Starc will play in the ODIs against South Africa, while Mitch Marsh and Travis Head return after not playing in Pakistan or Bangladesh.Emerging stars Cooper Connolly, Oliver Peake and Joel Davies have been added to the Australian ODI squad.Australia ODI squad: Mitchell Marsh, Pat Cummins (SA only), Xavier Bartlett, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Joel Davies, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Oliver Peake, Matthew Renshaw, Billy Stanlake, Mitchell Starc (SA only), Adam Zampa