The 10 Test cricketers with the most to prove in 2025: Four Englishmen who have it all to do before the Ashes, the India batter who's numbers are 'borderline criminal' and the Aussie who has been left behind by modern game
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It’s going to be another big year for Test cricket, with the World Test Championship final at Lord’s, England hosting India for five games, and finally the Ashes. In descending order, Mail Sport picks out 10 Test cricketers with a point to prove in 2025.
![[Australia’s No 3 Marnus Labuschagne ought to be heading into the prime of his career]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/14/09/94068769-14281785-image-a-4_1736845764176.jpg)
10: Temba Bavuma (South Africa). Nothing personal: Bavuma’s recent form should really have ended the whispering campaign which suggested he owed his place in South Africa’s middle order to the quota system. But as captain of a team who – through no fault of their own – have reached the WTC final through the back door, Bavuma embodies something broader.
![[Join Mail+ to read Lawrence Booth's unmissable Top Spin column every Tuesday, plus more of your favourite writers, exclusive stories and interviews and in-depth sports reporting]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/14/09/94068795-14281785-image-m-8_1736845873988.jpg)
If South Africa can beat Australia at Lord’s in June, they can silence the critics, and kick the latest plans for a two-tier Test structure into the long grass, where it belongs. South Africa captain Temba Bavuma can silence the critics with a win over Australia in June.
![[It’s hard to overstate just how badly England need Ben Stokes to be in a position to bowl]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/14/09/94068671-14281785-image-a-3_1736845718388.jpg)
Australia’s No 3 Marnus Labuschagne ought to be heading into the prime of his career. Join Mail+ to read Lawrence Booth's unmissable Top Spin column every Tuesday, plus more of your favourite writers, exclusive stories and interviews and in-depth sports reporting.
![[Babar Azam recently made three fifties in South Africa - but needs to find a century and fast]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/14/09/94068785-14281785-image-a-6_1736845818210.jpg)
9: Marnus Labuschagne (Australia). Australia’s No 3 ought to be heading into the prime of his career. He’s 30, has won 55 caps, averages 47, and plays for the best team in the world. And yet. It’s not simply that his returns have fallen away: since the start of the home series against West Indies in January, Labuschagne has averaged 21, dismissed for 12 or fewer in 12 of his 17 innings.
![[England are excited by Shoaib Bashir's potential - but may not need a spinner in Australia]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/14/09/94069399-14281785-image-a-9_1736847259214.jpg)
