🔗 Share this article

Labuschagne evenly coats butter on the top and bottom of a slice of plain bread. “That’s essential,” he tells the camera as he brings down the lid of his toastie maker. “Boom. Then you get it golden on both sides.” He opens the grill to reveal a golden square of delicious perfection, the bubbling cheese happily sizzling within. “So this is the key technique,” he declares. At which point, he does something horrific and unspeakable.

Already, you may feel a glaze of ennui is beginning to form across your eyes. The alarm bells of overly fancy prose are flashing wildly. You’re likely conscious that Labuschagne scored 160 for Queensland this week and is being feverishly talked up for an Australian Test recall before the England-Australia contest.

No doubt you’d prefer to read more about cricket matters. But first – you now grasp with irritation – you’re going to have to get through three paragraphs of light-hearted musing about grilled cheese, plus an extra unwanted bonus paragraph of overly analytical commentary in the second person. You groan once more.

Marnus transfers the sandwich on to a plate and walks across the fridge. “Few try this,” he announces, “but I actually like the cold toastie. Done, in the fridge. You get that cheese to harden up, head to practice, come back. Alright. Toastie’s ready to go.”

On-Field Matters

Look, let’s try it like this. How about we cover the cricket bit out of the way first? Small reward for your patience. And while there may still be six weeks until the initial match, Labuschagne’s 100 runs against the Tasmanian side – his third in recent months in all cricket – feels quietly decisive.

Here’s an Australia top three clearly missing consistency and technique, shown up by South Africa in the WTC final, highlighted further in the West Indies after that. Labuschagne was dropped during that trip, but on one hand you felt Australia were desperate to rehabilitate him at the earliest chance. Now he seems to have given them the ideal reason.

And this is a plan that Australia need to work. Usman Khawaja has a single hundred in his last 44 knocks. The young batsman looks not quite a first-innings batsman and closer to the good-looking star who might act as a batsman in a Indian film. None of the alternatives has made a cogent case. McSweeney looks out of form. Harris is still inexplicably hanging around, like unwanted guests. Meanwhile their skipper, Pat Cummins, is hurt and suddenly this appears as a weirdly lightweight side, lacking strength or equilibrium, the kind of natural confidence that has often helped Australia dominate before a ball is bowled.

The Batsman’s Revival

Step forward Marnus: a world No 1 Test batter as recently as 2023, recently omitted from the one-day team, the right person to restore order to a shaky team. And we are advised this is a composed and reflective Labuschagne currently: a simplified, no-frills Labuschagne, no longer as intensely fixated with minor adjustments. “I feel like I’ve really cut out extras,” he said after his ton. “Less focused on technique, just what I need to score runs.”

Of course, nobody truly believes this. In all likelihood this is a new approach that exists just in Labuschagne’s mind: still furiously stripping down that approach from morning to night, going more back to basics than any player has attempted. Like basic approach? Marnus will take time in the practice sessions with trainers and footage, completely transforming into the simplest player that has ever played. This is simply the quality of the focused, and the trait that has long made Labuschagne one of the most wildly absorbing sportsmen in the cricket.

Wider Context

Maybe before this very open historic rivalry, there is even a kind of interesting contrast to Labuschagne’s constant dedication. On England’s side we have a squad for whom technical study, especially personal critique, is a kind of dangerous taboo. Go with instinct. Stay in the moment. Live in the instant.

In the other corner you have a batsman like Labuschagne, a player terminally obsessed with the sport and totally indifferent by who knows about it, who sees cricket even in the gaps in the game, who handles this unusual pursuit with precisely the amount of odd devotion it requires.

His method paid off. During his intense period – from the instant he appeared to come in for a hurt Smith at the famous ground in 2019 to until late 2022 – Labuschagne was able to see the game with greater insight. To reach it – through absolute focus – on a elevated, strange, passionate tier. During his time with Kent league cricket, colleagues noticed him on the morning of a game resting on a bench in a meditative condition, actually imagining all balls of his batting stint. According to cricket statisticians, during the early stages of his career a unusually large proportion of catches were dropped off his bat. Somehow Labuschagne had intuited what would happen before fielders could respond to change it.

Current Struggles

It’s possible this was why his performance dipped the point he became number one. There were no new heights to imagine, just a unknown territory before his eyes. Additionally – he began doubting his favorite stroke, got stuck in his crease and seemed to forget where his off-stump was. But it’s connected really. Meanwhile his trainer, Neil D’Costa, believes a attention to shorter formats started to weaken assurance in his positioning. Positive development: he’s recently omitted from the ODI side.

Surely it matters, too, that Labuschagne is a man of deep religious faith, an committed Christian who holds that this is all predetermined, who thus sees his task as one of reaching this optimal zone, no matter how mysterious it may appear to the ordinary people.

This, to my mind, has always been the main point of difference between him and Smith, a inherently talented player