Stop the shuffle: Why the Proteas must lock Tristan Stubbs in at No. 3?

Mayank

Tristan Stubbs scored 49 (112) vs India in Guwahati [Source-AFP Photos]Tristan Stubbs scored 49 (112) vs India in Guwahati [Source-AFP Photos]

Widely regarded as one of the best young stars of the generation and a future South Africa great, Tristan Stubbs scored 49 (112) vs India in the second Test in Guwahati while batting at 3.

As it is known, the batter has been unable to find his feet in Test cricket yet, averaging an underwhelming 28.91 after 25 innings.

While there is some valid criticism over him going into a shell and not looking to score on some occasions, batting coach Ashwell Prince has revealed that Stubbs is working on the issues in recent times.

However, the problem around him has also been his batting position. He has been moved up and down quite a bit, which has not helped him settle either. Let's have a look at the breakdown of his performances by position.

The ambiguity around Stubbs' batting position

Criterion
At 3
At 4
At 5
At 6
Matches7531
Innings11842
Runs4381872020
Avg/SR43.80/50.9823.37/44.52
5.00/24.6920/21.73
50/1002/10/10/00/0
Highest106122815*

(Tristan Stubbs' Test record by batting position)

In addition to the above numbers, he has 1817 FC runs in 30 matches, averaging 41.29, with 7 hundreds and 3 fifties and a strike rate of 56.11.

Inference

In his 14-match career, he has already played at four different positions, suggesting the uncertainty around his role in the batting line-up, which consequently may also have affected his preparations.

So far, largely, he has been given games with his potential in mind. He started his career at 3, before he was moved to 4 — he scored centuries in both positions in the span of 3 innings late in 2024. However, he was made to bat 5, then 6 and now 3 again.

While he has looked at home while batting at 3, he also has a good FC record at 4 for Warriors. His best score of 302*(372) came at 4, when he bailed his team out from 20/2.

7 tons and 3 fifties in his FC career is a testament to an outstand rate. His FC strike rate also indicates that he can bat at a better scoring rate, contrary to his Test strike rate of 45.97.

Conclusion

South Africa are in a need of a number 3 and they have already tried out 12 options since 2020, with the latest one (Wiaan Mulder) mostly considered as a stop-gap option.

Stubbs' recent knocks of 76 in Rawalpindi and 49 in Guwahati have been a good exhibit of the batter being a quality number 3 option, who can grind for runs in tough situations.

Considering Temba Bavuma's preferred number 4 position, the 25-year-old needs to be given a longer run of games at the current position after his 49 vs India.

With a good defence and compact technique, the batter has shown his ability to bat across conditions in other formats and can be moulded into a long-term solution to the Proteas' number 3 woes in Tests.