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The Australian batsman evenly coats butter on the top and bottom of a slice of soft bread. “That’s essential,” he tells the camera as he closes the lid of his grilled cheese press. “Boom. Then you get it toasted on both sides.” He lifts the lid to reveal a toasted delight of delicious perfection, the bubbling cheese happily melting inside. “Here’s the secret method,” he announces. At which point, he does something horrific and unspeakable.

Already, it’s clear a layer of boredom is beginning to form across your eyes. The alarm bells of sportswriting pretension are flashing wildly. You’re probably aware that Labuschagne scored 160 for his state team this week and is being widely discussed for an Australian Test recall before the England-Australia contest.

No doubt you’d prefer to read more about his performance. But first – you now realise with an anguished sigh – you’re going to have to endure a section of playful digression about grilled cheese, plus an additional unnecessary part of tiresome meta‑deconstruction in the direct address. You feel resigned.

Labuschagne flips the sandwich on to a plate and walks across the fridge. “Few try this,” he remarks, “but I personally prefer the cold toastie. There, in the fridge. You let the cheese firm up, go bat, come back. Perfect. It’s ideal.”

Back to Cricket

Alright, let’s try it like this. Let’s address the cricket bit out of the way first? Small reward for making it this far. And while there may still be six weeks until the first Test, Labuschagne’s hundred against the Tigers – his third in recent months in all cricket – feels quietly decisive.

Here’s an Australia top three badly short of performance and method, revealed against South Africa in the World Test Championship final, exposed again in the following Caribbean tour. Labuschagne was omitted during that series, but on some level you felt Australia were keen to restore him at the first opportunity. Now he seems to have given them the right opportunity.

This represents a strategy Australia must implement. Usman Khawaja has just one 100 in his past 44 innings. Konstas looks less like a Test match opener and closer to the good-looking star who might portray a cricketer in a Bollywood movie. No other options has made a cogent case. Nathan McSweeney looks out of form. Another option is still oddly present, like dust or mold. Meanwhile their leader, Cummins, is hurt and suddenly this feels like a weirdly lightweight side, missing command or stability, the kind of effortless self-assurance that has often put Australia 2-0 up before a game starts.

Marnus’s Comeback

Step forward Marnus: a leading Test player as in the recent past, just left out from the ODI side, the right person to restore order to a fragile lineup. And we are told this is a more relaxed and thoughtful Labuschagne currently: a simplified, back-to-basics Labuschagne, no longer as intensely fixated with minor adjustments. “I feel like I’ve really cut out extras,” he said after his century. “Not overthinking, just what I must score runs.”

Of course, few accept this. Probably this is a new approach that exists entirely in Labuschagne’s personal view: still constantly refining that approach from dawn to dusk, going more back to basics than anyone else would try. Like basic approach? Marnus will spend months in the practice sessions with coaches and video clips, completely transforming into the least technical batter that has ever existed. This is simply the trait of the obsessed, and the quality that has always made Labuschagne one of the highly engaging sportsmen in the sport.

Wider Context

It could be before this highly uncertain historic rivalry, there is even a sort of interesting contrast to Labuschagne’s constant dedication. In England we have a side for whom any kind of analysis, not to mention self-review, is a risky subject. Feel the flavours. Be where the ball is. Embrace the current.

On the opposite side you have a batsman like Labuschagne, a individual terminally obsessed with the sport and totally indifferent by public perception, who sees cricket even in the gaps in the game, who treats this absurd sport with exactly the level of quirky respect it demands.

His method paid off. During his intense period – from the time he walked out to come in for a hurt Steve Smith at the famous ground in 2019 to until late 2022 – Labuschagne somehow managed to see the game with greater insight. To reach it – through absolute focus – on a higher, weirder, more frenzied level. During his days playing club cricket, fellow players saw him on the morning of a game sitting on a park bench in a focused mindset, mentally rehearsing every single ball of his time at the crease. According to the analytics firm, during the early stages of his career a unusually large proportion of catches were spilled from his batting. Somehow Labuschagne had intuited what would happen before anyone had a chance to affect it.

Form Issues

It’s possible this was why his performance dipped the moment he reached the summit. There were no further goals to picture, just a unknown territory before his eyes. Also – to be fair – 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 mentor, D’Costa, thinks a focus on white-ball cricket started to erode confidence in his alignment. Good news: he’s now excluded from the ODI side.

Surely it matters, too, that Labuschagne is a devoutly religious individual, an evangelical Christian who believes that this is all basically written out in advance, who thus sees his role as one of reaching this optimal zone, despite being puzzling it may seem to the mortal of us.

This, to my mind, has consistently been the primary contrast between him and Smith, a more naturally gifted player