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Labuschagne carefully spreads butter on each surface of a slice of white bread. “That’s essential,” he states as he lowers the lid of his toastie maker. “Perfect. Then you get it toasted on each side.” He lifts the lid to reveal a perfectly browned of delicious perfection, the bubbling cheese happily sizzling within. “So this is the key technique,” he explains. At which point, he does something horrific and unspeakable.

At this stage, it’s clear a layer of boredom is beginning to form across your eyes. The warning signs of sportswriting pretension are going off. You’re no doubt informed that Labuschagne scored 160 for Queensland this week and is being eagerly promoted 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 grilled cheese, plus an further tangential section of tiresome meta‑deconstruction in the second person. You feel resigned.

He turns the sandwich on to a serving plate and heads over the fridge. “It’s uncommon,” he announces, “but I genuinely enjoy the toastie cold. There, in the fridge. You allow the cheese to set, go bat, come back. Alright. It’s ideal.”

Back to Cricket

Alright, here’s the main point. Let’s address the cricket bit initially? Quick update 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 Australia top three badly short of consistency and technique, exposed by the Proteas in the WTC final, exposed again in the following Caribbean tour. Labuschagne was dropped during that tour, but on one hand you sensed Australia were keen to restore him at the first opportunity. Now he seems to have given them the right opportunity.

And this is a plan that Australia need to work. Khawaja has one century in his past 44 innings. Konstas looks hardly a Test opener and rather like the attractive performer who might act as a batsman in a Bollywood movie. None of the alternatives has made a cogent case. McSweeney looks finished. Harris is still oddly present, like unwanted guests. Meanwhile their leader, Cummins, is hurt and suddenly this feels like a surprisingly weak team, lacking authority or balance, the kind of effortless self-assurance that has often helped Australia dominate before a game starts.

Marnus’s Comeback

Enter Marnus: a world No 1 Test batter as just two years ago, recently omitted from the 50-over squad, the ideal candidate to return structure to a shaky team. And we are told this is a calmer and more meditative Labuschagne these days: a pared-down, fundamental-focused Labuschagne, no longer as intensely fixated with small details. “I feel like I’ve really stripped it back,” he said after his ton. “Not overthinking, just what I should score runs.”

Of course, this is doubted. In all likelihood this is a new approach that exists entirely in Labuschagne’s mind: still furiously stripping down that approach from morning to night, going further toward simplicity than any player has attempted. Like basic approach? Marnus will spend months in the practice sessions with coaches and video clips, completely transforming into the simplest player that has ever played. This is just the trait of the obsessed, and the characteristic that has consistently made Labuschagne one of the deeply fascinating sportsmen in the sport.

Bigger Scene

Perhaps before this highly uncertain England-Australia contest, there is even a kind of interesting contrast to Labuschagne’s constant dedication. For England we have a team for whom any kind of analysis, let alone self-analysis, is a forbidden topic. Go with instinct. Focus on the present. Live in the instant.

On the opposite side you have a individual like Labuschagne, a man completely dedicated with cricket and wonderfully unconcerned by public perception, who observes cricket even in the spaces between the cricket, who treats this absurd sport with just the right measure of absurd reverence it requires.

This approach succeeded. During his shamanic phase – from the moment he strode out to substitute for an injured Steve Smith at the famous ground in 2019 to around the end of 2022 – Labuschagne somehow managed to see the game on another level. To tap into it – through absolute focus – on a higher, weirder, more frenzied level. During his days playing Kent league cricket, colleagues noticed him on the day of a match resting on a bench in a focused mindset, literally visualising each delivery of his innings. According to Cricviz, during the first few years of his career a unusually large proportion of catches were dropped off his bat. In some way Labuschagne had anticipated outcomes before fielders could respond to influence it.

Form Issues

Perhaps this was why his performance dipped the time he achieved top ranking. There were no further goals to picture, just a unknown territory before his eyes. Furthermore – he began doubting his signature shot, got stuck in his crease and seemed to misjudge his positioning. But it’s all the same thing. Meanwhile his coach, Neil D’Costa, thinks a focus on white-ball cricket started to undermine belief 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 believes that this is all predetermined, who thus sees his task as one of achieving this peak performance, no matter how mysterious it may appear to the rest of us.

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