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Labuschagne carefully spreads butter on each surface of a slice of plain bread. “That’s the secret,” he states as he brings down the lid of his grilled cheese press. “Boom. Then you get it crisp on each side.” He opens the grill to reveal a golden square of delicious perfection, the bubbling cheese happily melting inside. “Here’s the key technique,” he explains. At which point, he does something horrific and unspeakable.

Already, it’s clear a sense of disinterest is beginning to appear in your eyes. The red lights of overly fancy prose are flashing wildly. You’re probably aware that Labuschagne made 160 runs for Queensland Bulls this week and is being widely discussed for an Australian Test recall before the Ashes series.

No doubt you’d prefer to read more about cricket matters. But first – you now realise with an anguished sigh – you’re going to have to get through a section of playful digression about toasted sandwiches, plus an further tangential section of self-referential analysis in the “you” perspective. You sigh again.

Labuschagne flips the sandwich on to a plate and moves toward the fridge. “Few try this,” he remarks, “but I genuinely enjoy the toastie cold. Boom, in the fridge. You allow the cheese to set, head to practice, come back. Alright. It’s ideal.”

The Cricket Context

Alright, let’s try it like this. How about we cover the sports aspect initially? Small reward for making it this far. And while there may be just six weeks until the series opener, Labuschagne’s hundred against the Tasmanian side – his third of the summer in all cricket – feels importantly timed.

We have an Australian top order clearly missing consistency and technique, revealed against the South African team in the WTC final, exposed again in the West Indies after that. Labuschagne was omitted during that trip, but on a certain level you gathered Australia were keen to restore him at the earliest chance. Now he appears to have given them the right opportunity.

This represents a plan that Australia need to work. Khawaja has a single hundred in his past 44 innings. Konstas looks not quite a Test match opener and rather like the good-looking star who might play a Test opener in a Indian film. No other options has presented a strong argument. Nathan McSweeney looks cooked. Harris is still inexplicably hanging around, like dust or mold. Meanwhile their skipper, Cummins, is injured and suddenly this appears as a surprisingly weak team, missing strength or equilibrium, the kind of natural confidence that has often given Australia a lead before a ball is bowled.

Labuschagne’s Return

Enter Marnus: a leading Test player as recently as 2023, just left out from the ODI side, the right person to restore order to a fragile lineup. And we are informed this is a composed and reflective Labuschagne these days: a pared-down, no-frills Labuschagne, less extremely focused with minor adjustments. “I believe I have really cut out extras,” he said after his ton. “Not overthinking, just what I should score runs.”

Of course, this is doubted. Most likely this is a new approach that exists only in Labuschagne’s own head: still constantly refining that technique from morning to night, going more back to basics than any player has attempted. You want less technical? Marnus will take time in the nets with trainers and footage, thoroughly reshaping his game into the least technical batter that has ever played. This is simply the quality of the focused, and the quality that has always made Labuschagne one of the highly engaging players in the cricket.

Bigger Scene

It could be before this inscrutably unpredictable Ashes series, there is even a type of appealing difference to Labuschagne’s unquenchable obsession. For England we have a team for whom any kind of analysis, especially personal critique, is a forbidden topic. Trust your gut. Focus on the present. Live in the instant.

In the other corner you have a player such as Labuschagne, a man completely dedicated with the game and wonderfully unconcerned by public perception, who observes cricket even in the moments outside play, who treats this absurd sport with just the right measure of quirky respect it requires.

And it worked. During his intense period – from the instant he appeared to come in for a hurt Smith at Lord’s in 2019 to around the end of 2022 – Labuschagne was able to see the game on another level. To access it – through absolute focus – on a elevated, strange, passionate tier. During his time with Kent league cricket, teammates would find him on the game day resting on a bench in a trance-like state, mentally rehearsing all balls of his batting stint. According to Cricviz, during the early stages of his career a statistically unfathomable proportion of catches were spilled from his batting. Somehow Labuschagne had predicted events before anyone had a chance to change it.

Form Issues

Maybe this was why his career began to disintegrate the point he became number one. There were no further goals to picture, just a boundless, uncharted void before his eyes. Furthermore – he began doubting his signature shot, got unable to move forward and seemed to forget where his off-stump was. But it’s all the same thing. Meanwhile his mentor, Neil D’Costa, thinks a attention to shorter formats started to weaken assurance in his alignment. Positive development: he’s just been dropped from the 50-over squad.

Certainly it’s relevant, too, that Labuschagne is a strongly faithful person, an evangelical Christian who holds that this is all predetermined, who thus sees his role as one of reaching this optimal zone, however enigmatic and inexplicable it may seem to the ordinary people.

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