🔗 Share this article

The Australian batsman evenly coats butter on each surface of a slice of plain bread. “That’s the secret,” he tells the camera as he brings down the lid of his grilled cheese press. “Boom. Then you get it crisp on each side.” He lifts the lid to reveal a golden square of delicious perfection, the melted cheese happily melting inside. “Here’s the key technique,” he declares. At which point, he does something horrific and unspeakable.

By now, you may feel a sense of disinterest is beginning to cover your eyes. The red lights of elaborate writing are flashing wildly. You’re no doubt informed that Labuschagne scored 160 for Queensland Bulls this week and is being eagerly promoted for an return to the Test side before the Ashes.

You probably want to read more about that. But first – you now realise with an anguished sigh – you’re going to have to sit through three paragraphs of light-hearted musing about toasted sandwiches, plus an additional unnecessary part of overly analytical commentary in the “you” perspective. You groan once more.

Labuschagne flips the sandwich on to a plate and walks across the fridge. “Few try this,” he states, “but I actually like the grilled sandwich chilled. Boom, in the fridge. You let the cheese firm up, go bat, come back. Boom. Toastie’s ready to go.”

On-Field Matters

Look, let’s try it like this. Shall we get the match details out of the way first? Small reward for your patience. And while there may only be six weeks until the series opener, Labuschagne’s century against the Tigers – his third this season in all formats – feels quietly decisive.

This is an Australia top three clearly missing form and structure, shown up by the South African team in the Test championship decider, shown up once more in the following Caribbean tour. Labuschagne was left out during that tour, but on a certain level you gathered Australia were desperate to rehabilitate him at the soonest moment. Now he appears to have given them the ideal reason.

And this is a plan that Australia need to work. Khawaja has one century in his past 44 innings. Sam Konstas looks hardly a Test opener and rather like the attractive performer who might play a Test opener in a Indian film. None of the alternatives has shown convincing form. McSweeney looks finished. Marcus Harris is still oddly present, like moths or damp. Meanwhile their skipper, the pace bowler, is injured and suddenly this feels like a unusually thin squad, lacking authority or balance, the kind of built-in belief that has often helped Australia dominate before a ball is bowled.

The Batsman’s Revival

Here comes Labuschagne: a world No 1 Test batter as recently as 2023, recently omitted from the 50-over squad, the ideal candidate to restore order to a fragile lineup. And we are informed this is a calmer and more meditative Labuschagne currently: a simplified, back-to-basics Labuschagne, no longer as maniacally obsessed with technical minutiae. “I feel like I’ve really stripped it back,” he said after his hundred. “Less focused on technique, just what I should bat effectively.”

Of course, nobody truly believes this. In all likelihood this is a fresh image that exists entirely in Labuschagne’s own head: still constantly refining that method from morning to night, going deeper into fundamentals than any player has attempted. You want less technical? Marnus will spend months in the practice sessions with coaches and video clips, completely transforming into the simplest player that has ever existed. This is simply the trait of the obsessed, and the characteristic that has consistently made Labuschagne one of the deeply fascinating cricketers in the game.

Bigger Scene

It could be before this inscrutably unpredictable Ashes series, there is even a type of interesting contrast to Labuschagne’s endless focus. For England we have a team for whom technical study, especially personal critique, is a forbidden topic. Trust your gut. Focus on the present. Embrace the current.

In the other corner you have a batsman like Labuschagne, a man completely dedicated with the sport and totally indifferent by others’ opinions, who sees cricket even in the spaces between the cricket, who approaches this quirky game with precisely the amount of quirky respect it requires.

And it worked. During his intense period – from the time he walked 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 tap into it – through sheer intensity of will – on a different, unusual, intense plane. During his time with club cricket, colleagues noticed him on the morning of a game sitting on a park bench in a trance-like state, mentally rehearsing all balls of his innings. As per Cricviz, during the early stages of his career a statistically unfathomable number of chances were missed when he batted. Remarkably Labuschagne had intuited what would happen before fielders could respond to change it.

Current Struggles

It’s possible this was why his form started to decline the time he achieved top ranking. There were no further goals to picture, just a empty space before his eyes. Furthermore – he lost faith in his cover drive, got stuck in his crease and seemed to lose awareness of his stumps. But it’s part of the same issue. Meanwhile his mentor, D’Costa, believes a attention to shorter formats started to undermine belief in his technique. Positive development: he’s recently omitted from the one-day team.

Certainly it’s relevant, too, that Labuschagne is a strongly faithful person, an religious believer who believes that this is all predetermined, who thus sees his role as one of reaching this optimal zone, however enigmatic and inexplicable it may look to the mortal of us.

This mindset, to my mind, has always been the main point of difference between him and Smith, a more naturally gifted player