West Indies in Australia Tests 2022: Australia Win 2-0 — Marnus Labuschagne 502 Runs Player of Series, Cummins vs Brathwaite

Australia won the West Indies Test series 2022 by 2-0 across 2 Tests played in November-December 2022. Tests: 1st at Perth Stadium (Optus Stadium), Perth; 2nd at Adelaide Oval, Adelaide. Marnus Labuschagne scored 502 runs across the series to win Player of the Series — among the highest aggregates in any 2-Test bilateral in modern cricket. Pat Cummins captained Australia; Kraigg Brathwaite captained West Indies.

Marnus Labuschagne 502 Runs: An Exceptional Aggregate in a 2-Test Series

Marnus Labuschagne accumulating 502 runs across the 2-Test West Indies series — played at Perth Stadium and Adelaide Oval in November-December 2022 — produced one of the highest batting aggregates in any 2-Test bilateral series in modern Test cricket. Labuschagne, the Queensland right-hander whose position as Australia's pre-eminent Test middle-order batter in the 2020-2023 period was established by his batting average (consistently among the highest active Test averages globally), producing 502 across just 2 Tests gave the West Indies series its defining individual contribution: a batter arriving in exceptional form against a West Indies bowling attack that could not consistently contain his technique across the Perth and Adelaide surfaces. Labuschagne's 502-run total across 2 Tests — the equivalent of averaging over 125 per Test across a bilateral — gave him the Player of the Series by a significant margin over any West Indies or Australia batter. The Perth Stadium first Test (Optus Stadium, which replaced the WACA as Perth's Test venue from 2018) and the Adelaide Oval second Test gave West Indies the challenge of adapting to two distinct Australian surfaces — the fast and bouncy Perth pitch and Adelaide's traditionally flatter, more seam-friendly conditions — without the preparation time that a longer series or warm-up matches would provide.

Australia's 2-0 Home Win Over West Indies in Context

Australia winning both Tests in their November-December 2022 home series against West Indies — 1-0 at Perth Stadium and 2-0 at Adelaide Oval — reflected the bilateral quality gap between Australia's full-strength Test side (Cummins, Smith, Warner, Labuschagne, Hazlewood, Starc, Cummins) in home conditions and a West Indies team led by Kraigg Brathwaite that was in a rebuilding phase following the retirement of several senior players (Carlos Brathwaite, Darren Bravo). Pat Cummins' Australia, beginning a WTC 2021-23 cycle phase that included the 2022-23 South Africa series (also at home, also 2-0) alongside the West Indies 2-0 result, were at the peak of their home bilateral Test dominance. The Steve Smith deputising as captain for one of the Adelaide Tests (Cummins missing through illness) gave the series the squad depth narrative: Australia's Test batting depth (Warner, Khawaja, Labuschagne, Smith, Head) able to produce the runs needed across both Perth and Adelaide conditions without requiring any single other batter to reach Labuschagne's 502-run total.

West Indies in Australia Tests 2022 in Context

The West Indies tour of Australia Tests 2022 — November-December 2022, Perth Stadium and Adelaide Oval — produced Australia winning 2-0 with Labuschagne's 502-run Player of the Series performance as the dominant individual contribution. Brathwaite's West Indies, competing across two Australian venues against a full-strength Australia attack, could not produce the batting totals needed to challenge Australia in either Perth or Adelaide. The 2-0 result continued Australia's home Test dominance in the 2021-23 WTC cycle — the bilateral sequence (Ashes 4-0 at home in 2021-22, West Indies 2-0, South Africa 2-0) giving Australia maximum WTC points from their home bilateral programme heading into the 2023 WTC Final against India at The Oval (which Australia won, their first WTC title).