Replacing labuschagne

World Test Championship Final: Australia's veteran batter Steve Smith has thrown his weight behind struggling Marnus Labuschagne to break his way back into the Australian Test XI after tidying up some aspects of his technique.

Labuschagne was dropped for the first Test against the West Indies after an underwhelming show in the World Test Championship final. He was moved up to open against South Africa, but scores of 17 and 22 meant he ended the two-year cycle with an average of 27.82. He failed to reach triple figures in the last 16 of those 53 matches.

"He’s actually in a pretty good place. I think I said it after the last game - I thought he batted really well in the World Test Championship Final without going on to make a big score," Smith told SEN Cricket.