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Labuschagne methodically applies butter on the top and bottom of a slice of plain bread. “That’s the key,” he tells the camera as he closes the lid of his sandwich grill. “There you go. Then you get it crisp on both sides.” He checks inside to reveal a golden square of delicious perfection, the melted cheese happily sizzling within. “Here’s the key technique,” he explains. At which point, he does something horrific and unspeakable.

Already, I sense 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 his state team this week and is being feverishly talked up for an return to the Test side before the Ashes series.

You probably want to read more about that. But first – you now grasp with irritation – you’re going to have to endure several lines of wobbling whimsy about toasted sandwiches, plus an extra unwanted bonus paragraph of tiresome meta‑deconstruction in the second person. You sigh again.

He turns the sandwich on to a plate and moves toward the fridge. “Few try this,” he remarks, “but I personally prefer the grilled sandwich chilled. Done, in the fridge. You let the cheese firm up, go for a hit, come back. Perfect. Toastie’s ready to go.”

On-Field Matters

Okay, here’s the main point. Shall we get the sports aspect initially? Small reward for your patience. And while there may only be six weeks until the first Test, Labuschagne’s hundred against the Tigers – his third in recent months in all formats – feels quietly decisive.

Here’s an Aussie opening batsmen seriously lacking performance and method, exposed by the Proteas in the WTC final, highlighted further in the West Indies after that. Labuschagne was omitted during that trip, but on one hand you sensed Australia were keen to restore him at the earliest chance. Now he looks to have given them the ideal reason.

And this is a approach the team should follow. The opener has a single hundred in his past 44 innings. Konstas looks hardly a Test match opener and more like the attractive performer who might play a Test opener in a Bollywood epic. None of the alternatives has presented a strong argument. McSweeney looks cooked. Harris is still inexplicably hanging around, like unwanted guests. Meanwhile their leader, the pace bowler, is hurt and suddenly this seems like a weirdly lightweight side, lacking command or stability, the kind of built-in belief that has often given Australia a lead before a game starts.

Labuschagne’s Return

Here comes Labuschagne: a top-ranked Test batsman as recently as 2023, freshly dropped from the 50-over squad, the ideal candidate to bring stability to a shaky team. And we are informed this is a more relaxed and thoughtful Labuschagne these days: a streamlined, back-to-basics Labuschagne, no longer as intensely fixated with small details. “I feel like I’ve really stripped it back,” he said after his hundred. “Not overthinking, just what I must make runs.”

Of course, this is doubted. Probably this is a rebrand that exists only in Labuschagne’s mind: still endlessly adjusting that approach from morning to night, going deeper into fundamentals than any player has attempted. Like basic approach? Marnus will devote weeks in the training with coaches and video clips, exhaustively remoulding himself into the least technical batter that has ever played. That’s the trait of the obsessed, and the characteristic that has consistently made Labuschagne one of the highly engaging sportsmen in the game.

Bigger Scene

Perhaps before this very open England-Australia contest, there is even a kind of pleasing dissonance to Labuschagne’s unquenchable obsession. On England’s side we have a side for whom any kind of analysis, let alone self-analysis, is a kind of dangerous taboo. Go with instinct. Be where the ball is. Smell the now.

In the other corner you have a individual like Labuschagne, a player completely dedicated with the sport and wonderfully unconcerned by who knows about it, who finds cricket even in the moments outside play, who approaches this quirky game with precisely the amount of absurd reverence it requires.

And it worked. During his shamanic phase – from the moment he strode out to come in for a hurt the senior batsman at Lord’s in 2019 to around the end of 2022 – Labuschagne somehow managed to see the game more deeply. To access it – through sheer intensity of will – on a higher, weirder, more frenzied level. During his time with Kent league cricket, colleagues noticed him on the game day sitting on a park bench in a trance-like state, mentally rehearsing every single ball of his time at the crease. Per the analytics firm, during the first few years of his career a surprisingly high proportion of catches were spilled from his batting. Remarkably Labuschagne had anticipated outcomes before anyone had a chance to influence it.

Current Struggles

Perhaps this was why his form started to decline the moment he reached the summit. There were no worlds left to visualise, just a boundless, uncharted void before his eyes. Also – to be fair – he began doubting his signature shot, got stuck in his crease and seemed to lose awareness of his stumps. But it’s connected really. Meanwhile his coach, Neil D’Costa, reckons a emphasis on limited-overs started to undermine belief in his positioning. Positive development: he’s recently omitted 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 predetermined, who thus sees his task as one of reaching this optimal zone, despite being puzzling it may look to the mortal of us.

This mindset, to my mind, has long been the primary contrast between him and Steve Smith, a instinctive player