'Don't know what he was thinking' - Harmer's surprise at Labuschagne's shot
St George's Park was Harmer's home ground for 11 years and, following the second Test, he has 105 first-class wickets at the venue at an average of 24.89. Bowling from the Duck Pond End with a howling gale behind him on the fourth afternoon in Gqeberha, Australia were 100 for 1 in their follow-on, with Labuschagne on 39, and giving themselves a platform from where they could potentially have saved the Test.
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Harmer then watched as Labuschagne danced down the pitch and tried to hit into the wind only to see the ball hang in the air and Marco Jansen take a superbly judged catch. Labuschagne roared in anger and continued to show visible emotion as he walked off.
"I don't know what he was thinking," Harmer said. "Obviously, I've played a lot of cricket at St George's Park and it funnels through that corner of the old stand and the duck pond. A lot of times you think you've got enough of it, but it just gets held up in the wind.
"I'm sure he'll be disappointed in hindsight, especially when they were looking to draw the Test. He's a world-class player and I'm sure he'll bounce back."
South Africa captain Temba Bavuma also said how the wind can add to home advantage if opposition batters don't make adjustments.
"I think those are just the nuances of playing here in St George's," he said. You can kind of see a shortish boundary and you can underestimate the fact that the wind plays a factor, you know. So, yeah, he didn't get all of it, all of that ball; Marnus and the wind did what it did, right? It held it [up] and, probably had to guy with the safest hands within the team, Marco Jansen, to catch it. So I think those are the small things playing here in St George's, if you haven't played, they can get you."
It was Labuschagne's fifth score between 31 and 39 in his last eight Test innings and his career once again on the brink, although there is a chance he survives for the decider in Cape Town.
"He's actually doing the hard bit, he's getting to 30," captain Pat Cummins said after the defeat. "I think he's got to find a way to turn those into bigger scores; 30s aren't going to win you many matches."
Labuschagne was previously dropped in mid-2025 after the World Test Championship final against South Africa, where he had been given what became a one-off chance to open. He only ended up missing three Tests in the West Indies before returning for the Ashes but has now gone 14 innings without a fifty.
"It's always the challenge of, do you give someone one more game or do you feel like now's the right time to make a move?" Cummins said. "So that's what will be spoken about in the next few days. I think we will probably have [Cameron] Green and Josh Inglis available for next week so I'm sure their names will get thrown around as well when we try and work out 11. But it's always that delicate balance. Do we feel like someone's just about to turn the corner and they're going to be away, or does it now feel like the right time for a change-up?"
Nic Maddinson and Beau Webster are also under pressure for their spots heading into the final Test.
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