In this quiz, you have to name both playing XIs from Australia’s last Test match without both Steve Smith nor Marnus Labuschagne in the side.
Cricket Australia banned Smith for a year in the aftermath of the Cape Town ball-tampering scandal of early 2018. Over this period, they tried out several options in the middle order, including Labuschagne, who debuted against Pakistan in the UAE.
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When India toured Australia in 2018/19, Labuschagne missed the first three Tests. After India took a 2-1 lead, Labuschagne was recalled for the fourth. Smith celebrated his return to the side with two hundreds at Edgbaston in the 2019 Ashes. When Jofra Archer hit him on the head, Labuschagne replaced him... and became international cricket’s first concussion substitute.
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At least one of the two has been a regular feature in the playing XI since then. Before the Bridgetown Test of 2025, the last time Australia went in without either of them was in that India series – in the third Test, at Melbourne.
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India won that Test by 137 runs. Their star fast bowler, still in the first year of his Test career, was named the Player of the Match for taking 6-33 and 3-53. This included a famous slower ball to end the first session of the third day to clean bowl one of two brothers who played in the Test.
Can you name both XIs in five minutes?
Quiz! Playing XIs from Australia’s last Test without both Smith and Labuschagne
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Correct as of June 25, 2025.
