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Marnus carefully spreads butter on both sides of a slice of plain bread. “That’s essential,” he states as he brings down the lid of his grilled cheese press. “Perfect. Then you get it golden on both sides.” He lifts the lid to reveal a toasted delight of pure toasted goodness, the gooey cheese happily sizzling within. “And that’s the trick of the trade,” he announces. At which point, he does something unexpected and strange.

At this stage, it’s clear a glaze of ennui is beginning to appear in your eyes. The alarm bells of elaborate writing are going off. You’re no doubt informed that Labuschagne scored 160 for Queensland Bulls this week and is being feverishly talked up for an Australian Test recall before the England-Australia contest.

You likely wish to read more about that. But first – you now realise with an anguished sigh – you’re going to have to endure several lines of wobbling whimsy about grilled cheese, plus an extra unwanted bonus paragraph of overly analytical commentary in the “you” perspective. You feel resigned.

Marnus transfers the sandwich on to a serving plate and heads over the fridge. “It’s uncommon,” he remarks, “but I actually like the grilled sandwich chilled. Boom, in the fridge. You allow the cheese to set, head to practice, come back. Boom. Sandwich is perfect.”

Back to Cricket

Okay, here’s the main point. Let’s address the match details out of the way first? Little treat for making it this far. And while there may be just six weeks until the series opener, Labuschagne’s century against the Tigers – his third of the summer in all cricket – feels quietly decisive.

We have an Aussie opening batsmen seriously lacking form and structure, revealed against the South African team in the Test championship decider, exposed again in the following Caribbean tour. Labuschagne was left out during that series, but on a certain level you sensed Australia were desperate to rehabilitate him at the soonest moment. Now he looks to have given them the perfect excuse.

Here is a strategy Australia must implement. Khawaja has one century in his recent 44 batting efforts. Konstas looks not quite a Test match opener and more like the handsome actor who might portray a cricketer in a Indian film. No other options has presented a strong argument. McSweeney looks cooked. Another option is still surprisingly included, like unwanted guests. Meanwhile their captain, the pace bowler, is injured and suddenly this feels like a surprisingly weak team, short of command or stability, the kind of effortless self-assurance that has often given Australia a lead before a game starts.

Marnus’s Comeback

Here comes Labuschagne: a leading Test player as just two years ago, just left out from the 50-over squad, the right person to return structure to a brittle empire. And we are informed this is a composed and reflective Labuschagne now: a simplified, fundamental-focused Labuschagne, less intensely fixated with technical minutiae. “I believe I have really cut out extras,” he said after his hundred. “Not overthinking, just what I should bat effectively.”

Naturally, nobody truly believes this. Most likely this is a rebrand that exists only in Labuschagne’s mind: still endlessly adjusting that approach from morning to night, going more back to basics than anyone has ever dared. Like basic approach? Marnus will spend months in the nets with advisors and replays, completely transforming into the simplest player that has ever been seen. This is just the trait of the obsessed, and the trait that has long made Labuschagne one of the deeply fascinating players in the cricket.

Bigger Scene

It could be before this inscrutably unpredictable England-Australia contest, there is even a sort of pleasing dissonance to Labuschagne’s constant dedication. For England we have a side for whom technical study, not to mention self-review, is a kind of dangerous taboo. Trust your gut. Be where the ball is. Live in the instant.

On the opposite side you have a individual like Labuschagne, a player terminally obsessed with the game and totally indifferent by who knows about it, who observes cricket even in the moments outside play, who treats this absurd sport with exactly the level of absurd reverence it requires.

His method paid off. During his intense period – from the moment he strode out to substitute for an injured the senior batsman at Lord’s in 2019 to through 2022 – Labuschagne was able to see the game more deeply. To reach it – through absolute focus – on a higher, weirder, more frenzied level. During his days playing Kent league cricket, colleagues noticed him on the game day positioned on a seat in a meditative condition, actually imagining all balls of his time at the crease. According to the analytics firm, during the first few years of his career a unusually large proportion of catches were spilled from his batting. In some way Labuschagne had predicted events before others could react to influence it.

Recent Challenges

Maybe this was why his performance dipped the moment he reached the summit. There were no new heights to imagine, just a boundless, uncharted void before his eyes. Also – to be fair – he stopped trusting his favorite stroke, got unable to move forward and seemed to lose awareness of his stumps. But it’s connected really. Meanwhile his coach, his coach, reckons a focus on white-ball cricket started to undermine belief in his alignment. Good news: he’s just been dropped from the ODI side.

Certainly it’s relevant, too, that Labuschagne is a devoutly religious individual, an religious believer who believes that this is all basically written out in advance, who thus sees his task as one of achieving this peak performance, despite being puzzling it may look to the rest of us.

This mindset, to my mind, has always been the primary contrast between him and Steve Smith, a inherently talented player