Hussey defends Labuschagne amidst Australia's batting crisis

Former Australian great Michael Hussey has hit back at calls for major change to the Test team as pressure mounts following a fourth-day disaster against South Africa.

Australia were bowled out for just 99 in Gqeberha and forced to follow on for only the third time since 1988, reaching stumps on the brink of a disastrous defeat at 4/156, still trailing by 170 runs.

In the crosshairs are struggling trio Nic Maddinson, Marnus Labuschagne and Beau Webster, with the latter duo suffering the ignominy of being dismissed twice on the same day at St George’s Park.

Hussey has specifically defended Labuschagne, whose ugly dismissal taking on spinner Simon Harmer to fall for 39 led to intense criticism and calls for him to be dropped.

“I feel like he’s looking quite good throughout the whole series,” Hussey told foxsports.com.au.

“He’s got a start in pretty much every innings, he’s got himself to 30s, and that’s the most disappointing thing. That’s the heartbeat – getting in, getting set.”

Labuschagne is yet to score a half-century in four innings this series, extending his drought to 14 innings without a fifty dating back to last summer’s Ashes.

However, Hussey believes the batsman is showing signs of improvement by getting through the initial phase of his innings much better than before, noting he just needs to concentrate for longer and convert his starts into big scores.