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Labuschagne carefully spreads butter on each surface of a slice of white bread. “That’s essential,” he tells the camera as he closes the lid of his sandwich grill. “There you go. Then you get it toasted on both sides.” He checks inside to reveal a toasted delight of delicious perfection, the gooey cheese happily sizzling within. “And that’s the trick of the trade,” he declares. At which point, he does something horrific and unspeakable.

Already, you may feel a sense of disinterest is beginning to form across your eyes. The alarm bells of overly fancy prose are flashing wildly. You’re probably aware that Labuschagne made 160 runs for Queensland this week and is being widely discussed for an national team comeback before the England-Australia contest.

You likely wish to read more about cricket matters. But first – you now realise with an anguished sigh – you’re going to have to sit through a section of playful digression about toasted sandwiches, plus an additional unnecessary part of self-referential analysis in the “you” perspective. You feel resigned.

Marnus transfers the sandwich on to a serving plate and walks across the fridge. “Not many people do this,” he remarks, “but I personally prefer the grilled sandwich chilled. There, in the fridge. You let the cheese firm up, go for a hit, come back. Alright. Sandwich is perfect.”

The Cricket Context

Okay, here’s the main point. Let’s address the cricket bit to begin with? Little treat for your patience. And while there may only be six weeks until the initial match, Labuschagne’s century against the Tasmanian side – his third of the summer in all formats – feels importantly timed.

Here’s an Australian top order seriously lacking form and structure, exposed by South Africa in the World Test Championship final, highlighted further in the following Caribbean tour. Labuschagne was omitted during that series, but on one hand you felt Australia were desperate to rehabilitate him at the soonest moment. Now he looks to have given them the right opportunity.

Here is a approach the team should follow. The opener has just one 100 in his past 44 innings. Konstas looks not quite a Test opener and closer to the attractive performer who might play a Test opener in a Bollywood epic. No other options has shown convincing form. One contender looks finished. Another option is still surprisingly included, like unwanted guests. Meanwhile their captain, the pace bowler, is injured and suddenly this appears as a unusually thin squad, lacking authority or balance, the kind of effortless self-assurance that has often given Australia a lead before a match begins.

The Batsman’s Revival

Enter Marnus: a leading Test player as recently as 2023, freshly dropped from the one-day team, the ideal candidate to return structure to a fragile lineup. And we are advised this is a composed and reflective Labuschagne now: a pared-down, back-to-basics Labuschagne, less extremely focused with minor adjustments. “I believe I have really simplified things,” he said after his ton. “Less focused on technique, just what I need to make runs.”

Of course, nobody truly believes this. Most likely this is a fresh image that exists just in Labuschagne’s personal view: still endlessly adjusting that method from morning to night, going more back to basics than anyone has ever dared. You want less technical? Marnus will spend months in the training with trainers and footage, completely transforming into the least technical batter 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 sportsmen in the game.

Wider Context

Maybe before this very open historic rivalry, there is even a sort of interesting contrast to Labuschagne’s endless focus. In England we have a squad for whom technical study, especially personal critique, is a risky subject. Trust your gut. Focus on the present. Live in the instant.

For Australia you have a player such as Labuschagne, a individual terminally obsessed with the game and totally indifferent by public perception, who finds cricket even in the gaps in the game, who treats this absurd sport with precisely the amount of quirky respect 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 Cricket Ground in 2019 to until late 2022 – Labuschagne somehow managed to see the game with greater insight. To access it – through absolute focus – on a different, unusual, intense plane. During his days playing Kent league cricket, fellow players saw him on the morning of a game resting on a bench in a meditative condition, actually imagining all balls of his innings. According to Cricviz, during the initial period of his career a unusually large proportion of catches were missed when he batted. Somehow Labuschagne had anticipated outcomes before others could react to affect it.

Current Struggles

Maybe this was why his career began to disintegrate the moment he reached the summit. 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 trainer, D’Costa, believes a focus on white-ball cricket started to undermine belief in his technique. Positive development: he’s just been dropped from the 50-over squad.

No doubt it’s important, too, that Labuschagne is a man of deep religious faith, an evangelical Christian who thinks that this is all predetermined, who thus sees his job as one of achieving this peak performance, no matter how mysterious it may appear to the ordinary people.

This approach, to my mind, has always been the primary contrast between him and the other batsman, a more naturally gifted player