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Labuschagne evenly coats butter on the top and bottom of a slice of white bread. “That’s the key,” he tells the camera as he brings down the lid of his grilled cheese press. “There you go. Then you get it golden on each side.” He checks inside to reveal a perfectly browned of delicious perfection, the bubbling cheese happily sizzling within. “Here’s the secret method,” he explains. At which point, he does something unexpected and strange.

Already, I sense a layer of boredom is beginning to cover your eyes. The warning signs of sportswriting pretension are flashing wildly. You’re probably aware that Labuschagne hit 160 for Queensland Bulls this week and is being feverishly talked up for an Australian Test recall before the Ashes.

You likely wish to read more about cricket matters. But first – you now understand with frustration – you’re going to have to get through a section of wobbling whimsy about toasted sandwiches, plus an additional unnecessary part of self-referential analysis in the “you” perspective. You feel resigned.

Labuschagne flips the sandwich on to a serving plate and heads over the fridge. “It’s uncommon,” he states, “but I actually like the grilled sandwich chilled. Done, in the fridge. You allow the cheese to set, go for a hit, come back. Boom. Toastie’s ready to go.”

Back to Cricket

Okay, to cut to the chase. Let’s address the sports aspect initially? Small reward for reading until now. And while there may be just six weeks until the first Test, Labuschagne’s century against Tasmania – his third this season in all cricket – feels significantly impactful.

Here’s an Australian top order badly short of form and structure, revealed against South Africa in the WTC final, highlighted further in the West Indies after that. Labuschagne was omitted during that series, but on a certain level you felt Australia were desperate to rehabilitate him at the first opportunity. Now he looks to have given them the right opportunity.

Here is a approach the team should follow. Usman Khawaja has a single hundred in his past 44 innings. Sam Konstas looks hardly a Test match opener and rather like the attractive performer who might play a Test opener in a Indian film. None of the alternatives has presented a strong argument. One contender looks finished. Another option is still surprisingly included, like dust or mold. Meanwhile their leader, Cummins, is hurt and suddenly this feels like a weirdly lightweight side, short of command or stability, the kind of natural confidence that has often given Australia a lead before a ball is bowled.

Labuschagne’s Return

Here comes Labuschagne: a top-ranked Test batsman as in the recent past, just left out from the ODI side, the perfect character to restore order to a shaky team. And we are informed this is a more relaxed and thoughtful Labuschagne currently: a streamlined, no-frills Labuschagne, no longer as extremely focused with minor adjustments. “It seems I’ve really cut out extras,” he said after his ton. “Less focused on technique, just what I must bat effectively.”

Clearly, nobody truly believes this. Probably this is a fresh image that exists entirely in Labuschagne’s mind: still furiously stripping down that approach from morning to night, going deeper into fundamentals than anyone else would try. You want less technical? Marnus will take time in the practice sessions with advisors and replays, completely transforming into the simplest player that has ever existed. This is just the trait of the obsessed, and the trait that has always made Labuschagne one of the most wildly absorbing cricketers in the sport.

The Broader Picture

Maybe before this highly uncertain England-Australia contest, there is even a sort of appealing difference to Labuschagne’s constant dedication. For England we have a team for whom technical study, especially personal critique, is a forbidden topic. Feel the flavours. Be where the ball is. Smell the now.

In the other corner you have a batsman like Labuschagne, a man terminally obsessed with the game and wonderfully unconcerned by public perception, who observes cricket even in the gaps in the game, who treats this absurd sport with exactly the level of absurd reverence it deserves.

His method paid off. During his intense period – from the time he walked out to substitute for an injured the senior batsman at Lord’s Cricket Ground in 2019 to until late 2022 – Labuschagne was able to see the game more deeply. To reach it – through absolute focus – on a different, unusual, intense plane. During his time with club cricket, teammates would find him on the morning of a game sitting on a park bench in a focused mindset, mentally rehearsing every single ball of his batting stint. According to Cricviz, during the initial period of his career a unusually large catches were spilled from his batting. Remarkably Labuschagne had intuited what would happen before fielders could respond to affect it.

Current Struggles

Maybe this was why his form started to decline the time he achieved top ranking. There were no new heights to imagine, just a boundless, uncharted void before his eyes. Also – to be fair – he lost faith in his signature shot, got trapped on the crease and seemed to forget where his off-stump was. But it’s connected really. Meanwhile his mentor, D’Costa, believes a focus on white-ball cricket started to weaken assurance in his technique. Encouragingly: he’s recently omitted from the ODI side.

Surely it matters, too, that Labuschagne is a man of deep religious faith, an religious believer who holds that this is all basically written out in advance, who thus sees his job as one of reaching this optimal zone, despite being puzzling it may seem to the mortal of us.

This approach, to my mind, has always been the primary contrast between him and Smith, a instinctive player