🔗 Share this article

Marnus methodically applies butter on both sides of a slice of soft bread. “That’s the secret,” he explains as he lowers the lid of his grilled cheese press. “Perfect. Then you get it toasted on the outside.” He checks inside to reveal a perfectly browned of ideal crispiness, the bubbling cheese happily melting inside. “Here’s the trick of the trade,” he announces. At which point, he does something shocking and odd.

Already, it’s clear a glaze of ennui is beginning to appear in your eyes. The warning signs of elaborate writing are flashing wildly. You’re no doubt informed that Labuschagne made 160 runs for Queensland Bulls this week and is being eagerly promoted for an return to the Test side before the Ashes.

No doubt you’d prefer to read more about that. But first – you now realise with an anguished sigh – you’re going to have to endure three paragraphs of playful digression about toasties, plus an extra unwanted bonus paragraph of self-referential analysis in the second person. You groan once more.

Labuschagne flips the sandwich on to a serving plate and moves toward the fridge. “Not many people do this,” he states, “but I personally prefer the cold toastie. Boom, in the fridge. You allow the cheese to set, go for a hit, come back. Alright. Sandwich is perfect.”

Back to Cricket

Okay, here’s the main point. Shall we get the cricket bit initially? Little treat for making it this far. And while there may only be six weeks until the initial match, Labuschagne’s hundred against the Tigers – his third of the summer in all formats – feels importantly timed.

We have an Australian top order seriously lacking performance and method, revealed against South Africa in the WTC final, exposed again in the following Caribbean tour. Labuschagne was left out during that tour, but on some level you felt Australia were eager to bring him back at the first opportunity. Now he appears to have given them the perfect excuse.

Here is a plan that Australia need to work. Usman Khawaja has one century in his recent 44 batting efforts. The young batsman looks hardly a first-innings batsman 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 out of form. Another option is still oddly present, like moths or damp. Meanwhile their skipper, Cummins, is hurt and suddenly this feels like a weirdly lightweight side, lacking strength or equilibrium, the kind of built-in belief that has often put Australia 2-0 up before a match begins.

Labuschagne’s Return

Here comes Labuschagne: a leading Test player as just two years ago, recently omitted from the 50-over squad, the perfect character to restore order to a brittle empire. And we are advised this is a composed and reflective Labuschagne currently: a pared-down, back-to-basics Labuschagne, not as maniacally obsessed with minor adjustments. “It seems I’ve really stripped it back,” he said after his ton. “Less focused on technique, just what I should make runs.”

Of course, nobody truly believes this. Probably this is a new approach that exists entirely in Labuschagne’s personal view: still endlessly adjusting that method from dawn to dusk, going further toward simplicity than any player has attempted. You want less technical? Marnus will take time in the nets with advisors and replays, exhaustively remoulding himself into the simplest player that has ever been seen. This is simply the nature of the addict, and the characteristic that has consistently made Labuschagne one of the highly engaging players in the cricket.

Wider Context

Maybe before this highly uncertain historic rivalry, there is even a type of pleasing dissonance to Labuschagne’s constant dedication. On England’s side we have a squad for whom detailed examination, especially personal critique, is a risky subject. Feel the flavours. Be where the ball is. Live in the instant.

For Australia you have a player such as Labuschagne, a individual utterly absorbed with cricket and totally indifferent by who knows about it, who observes cricket even in the moments outside play, who treats this absurd sport with just the right measure of absurd reverence it demands.

This approach succeeded. During his intense period – from the moment he strode out to replace a concussed the senior batsman at the famous ground in 2019 to through 2022 – Labuschagne found a way to see the game on another level. To reach it – through pure determination – on a different, unusual, intense plane. During his stint in English county cricket, teammates would find him on the morning of a game resting on a bench in a trance-like state, literally visualising all balls of his time at the crease. Per Cricviz, during the first few years of his career a surprisingly high number of chances were missed when he batted. Somehow Labuschagne had anticipated outcomes before others could react to change it.

Recent Challenges

Perhaps this was why his form started to decline the point he became number one. There were no further goals to picture, just a boundless, uncharted void before his eyes. Also – to be fair – he lost faith in his favorite stroke, got unable to move forward and seemed to lose awareness of his stumps. But it’s part of the same issue. Meanwhile his mentor, D’Costa, believes a focus on white-ball cricket started to undermine belief in his alignment. Positive development: he’s now excluded from the 50-over squad.

Certainly it’s relevant, too, that Labuschagne is a devoutly religious individual, an committed Christian who holds that this is all basically written out in advance, who thus sees his task as one of reaching this optimal zone, despite being puzzling it may appear to the ordinary people.

This mindset, to my mind, has long been the primary contrast between him and Smith, a more naturally gifted player