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Marnus carefully spreads butter on the top and bottom of a slice of white bread. “That’s the key,” he tells the camera as he lowers the lid of his grilled cheese press. “Perfect. Then you get it golden on each side.” He opens the grill to reveal a golden square of delicious perfection, the bubbling cheese happily sizzling within. “Here’s the trick of the trade,” he declares. At which point, he does something unexpected and strange.

At this stage, you may feel a sense of disinterest is beginning to appear in your eyes. The warning signs of elaborate writing are flashing wildly. You’re likely conscious 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.

You probably want to read more about his performance. But first – you now understand with frustration – you’re going to have to endure several lines of wobbling whimsy about grilled cheese, plus an additional unnecessary part of overly analytical commentary in the second person. You sigh again.

Marnus transfers the sandwich on to a dish and walks across the fridge. “Not many people do this,” he states, “but I actually like the toastie cold. There, in the fridge. You allow the cheese to set, go bat, come back. Perfect. Toastie’s ready to go.”

The Cricket Context

Alright, to cut to the chase. How about we cover the cricket bit to begin with? Small reward for making it this far. And while there may only be six weeks until the first Test, Labuschagne’s hundred against Tasmania – his third in recent months in all cricket – feels quietly decisive.

We have an Australian top order badly short of consistency and technique, exposed by South Africa in the WTC final, exposed again in the West Indies after that. Labuschagne was left out during that series, but on a certain level you gathered Australia were keen to restore him at the soonest moment. Now he looks to have given them the perfect excuse.

Here is a plan that Australia need to work. Khawaja has just one 100 in his last 44 knocks. The young batsman looks less like a Test opener and more like the attractive performer who might play a Test opener in a Indian film. Other candidates has made a cogent case. One contender looks finished. Marcus Harris is still oddly present, like dust or mold. Meanwhile their leader, Pat Cummins, is unfit and suddenly this appears as a surprisingly weak team, short of strength or equilibrium, the kind of effortless self-assurance that has often helped Australia dominate before a match begins.

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 ideal candidate to restore order to a shaky team. And we are informed this is a composed and reflective Labuschagne these days: a streamlined, fundamental-focused Labuschagne, not as intensely fixated with small details. “I believe I have really cut out extras,” he said after his ton. “Less focused on technique, just what I should score runs.”

Clearly, this is doubted. Most likely this is a new approach that exists entirely in Labuschagne’s mind: still constantly refining that method from all day, going further toward simplicity than anyone else would try. Like basic approach? Marnus will devote weeks in the nets with advisors and replays, thoroughly reshaping his game into the most basic batsman that has ever existed. This is simply the nature of the addict, and the characteristic that has always made Labuschagne one of the deeply fascinating players in the cricket.

The Broader Picture

Maybe before this very open historic rivalry, there is even a type of interesting contrast to Labuschagne’s constant dedication. In England we have a side for whom technical study, let alone self-analysis, is a forbidden topic. Trust your gut. Focus on the present. Live in the instant.

For Australia you have a player such as Labuschagne, a player utterly absorbed with the sport and wonderfully unconcerned by public perception, who finds cricket even in the moments outside play, who treats this absurd sport with exactly the level of absurd reverence it deserves.

His method paid off. During his intense period – from the instant he appeared to replace a concussed Steve Smith at Lord’s in 2019 to around the end of 2022 – Labuschagne was able to see the game with greater insight. To tap into it – through pure determination – on a higher, weirder, more frenzied level. During his days playing Kent league cricket, teammates would find him on the day of a match sitting on a park bench in a focused mindset, mentally rehearsing each delivery of his innings. According to Cricviz, during the early stages of his career a unusually large catches were spilled from his batting. Remarkably Labuschagne had predicted events before others could react to influence it.

Form Issues

Maybe this was why his form started to decline the point he became number one. There were no worlds left to visualise, just a empty space before his eyes. Also – to be fair – he stopped trusting his signature shot, got stuck in his crease and seemed to lose awareness of his stumps. But it’s connected really. Meanwhile his mentor, his coach, reckons a emphasis on limited-overs started to weaken assurance in his alignment. Encouragingly: he’s just been dropped from the one-day team.

No doubt it’s important, too, that Labuschagne is a man of deep religious faith, an religious believer who holds that this is all basically written out in advance, who thus sees his job as one of accessing this state of flow, however enigmatic and inexplicable it may seem to the ordinary people.

This approach, to my mind, has always been the primary contrast between him and Smith, a instinctive player