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Labuschagne evenly coats butter on the top and bottom of a slice of soft bread. “That’s the secret,” he states as he lowers the lid of his grilled cheese press. “Boom. Then you get it toasted on the outside.” He checks inside to reveal a golden square of ideal crispiness, the gooey cheese happily bubbling away. “Here’s the key technique,” he explains. At which point, he does something horrific and unspeakable.

At this stage, it’s clear a glaze of ennui is beginning to cover your eyes. The red lights of overly fancy prose are blinking intensely. You’re probably aware that Labuschagne made 160 runs for his state team this week and is being widely discussed for an return to the Test side before the England-Australia contest.

You likely wish to read more about cricket matters. But first – you now grasp with irritation – you’re going to have to sit through several lines of wobbling whimsy about toasted sandwiches, plus an further tangential section of self-referential analysis in the “you” perspective. You groan once more.

Marnus transfers the sandwich on to a plate and walks across the fridge. “It’s uncommon,” he states, “but I genuinely enjoy the grilled sandwich chilled. Done, in the fridge. You get that cheese to harden up, go bat, come back. Boom. Toastie’s ready to go.”

On-Field Matters

Look, let’s try it like this. Let’s address the match details initially? Quick update for your patience. And while there may only be six weeks until the series opener, Labuschagne’s century against Tasmania – his third of the summer in various games – feels quietly decisive.

This is an Australian top order clearly missing performance and method, revealed against the South African team in the Test championship decider, shown up once more in the following Caribbean tour. Labuschagne was omitted during that series, but on one hand you felt Australia were keen to restore him at the first opportunity. Now he seems to have given them the right opportunity.

And this is a approach the team should follow. Usman Khawaja has one century in his recent 44 batting efforts. The young batsman looks hardly a Test opener and more like the handsome actor who might act as a batsman in a Indian film. None of the alternatives has made a cogent case. One contender looks cooked. Another option is still surprisingly included, like dust or mold. Meanwhile their skipper, Cummins, is hurt and suddenly this appears as a unusually thin squad, lacking authority or balance, the kind of built-in belief that has often given Australia a lead before a ball is bowled.

Marnus’s Comeback

Step forward Marnus: a leading Test player as just two years ago, recently omitted from the one-day team, the ideal candidate to bring stability to a fragile lineup. And we are advised this is a more relaxed and thoughtful Labuschagne currently: a pared-down, back-to-basics Labuschagne, no longer as maniacally obsessed with minor adjustments. “I believe I have really simplified things,” he said after his century. “Not really too technical, just what I should score runs.”

Clearly, few accept this. In all likelihood this is a fresh image that exists entirely in Labuschagne’s personal view: still endlessly adjusting that approach from dawn to dusk, going further toward simplicity than anyone has ever dared. Prefer simplicity? Marnus will take time in the practice sessions with advisors and replays, completely transforming into the simplest player that has ever been seen. That’s the nature of the addict, and the trait that has always made Labuschagne one of the deeply fascinating players in the game.

Wider Context

Maybe before this very open England-Australia contest, there is even a kind of appealing difference to Labuschagne’s constant dedication. For England we have a side for whom detailed examination, let alone self-analysis, is a kind of dangerous taboo. Feel the flavours. Stay in the moment. Live in the instant.

In the other corner you have a individual like Labuschagne, a player completely dedicated with the sport and magnificently unbothered by who knows about it, who observes cricket even in the spaces between the cricket, who treats this absurd sport with just the right measure of odd devotion it deserves.

This approach succeeded. During his focused era – from the moment he strode out to substitute for an injured Steve Smith at Lord’s Cricket Ground in 2019 to until late 2022 – Labuschagne somehow managed to see the game more deeply. To access it – through absolute focus – on a higher, weirder, more frenzied level. During his stint in club cricket, teammates would find him on the day of a match sitting on a park bench in a meditative condition, mentally rehearsing every single ball of his time at the crease. As per cricket statisticians, during the first few years of his career a surprisingly high proportion of catches were dropped off his bat. In some way Labuschagne had intuited what would happen before fielders could respond to affect it.

Recent Challenges

It’s possible this was why his performance dipped the point he became number one. There were no further goals to picture, just a unknown territory before his eyes. Also – to be fair – he began doubting his cover drive, got unable to move forward and seemed to misjudge his positioning. But it’s all the same thing. Meanwhile his coach, Neil D’Costa, reckons a focus on white-ball cricket started to erode confidence in his positioning. Good news: he’s recently omitted from the 50-over squad.

Surely it matters, too, that Labuschagne is a devoutly religious individual, an religious believer who thinks that this is all preordained, who thus sees his role as one of accessing this state of flow, no matter how mysterious it may look to the mortal of us.

This, to my mind, has consistently been the key distinction between him and the other batsman, a more naturally gifted player