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Marnus methodically applies butter on the top and bottom of a slice of soft bread. “That’s the key,” he explains as he lowers the lid of his sandwich grill. “Boom. Then you get it toasted on each side.” He lifts the lid to reveal a golden square of ideal crispiness, the gooey cheese happily bubbling away. “Here’s the trick of the trade,” he explains. At which point, he does something horrific and unspeakable.

Already, it’s clear a sense of disinterest is beginning to cover your eyes. The warning signs of sportswriting pretension are flashing wildly. You’re likely conscious that Labuschagne hit 160 for Queensland Bulls this week and is being widely discussed for an national team comeback before the England-Australia contest.

You probably want to read more about that. But first – you now understand with frustration – you’re going to have to endure a section of wobbling whimsy about toasties, plus an additional unnecessary part of self-referential analysis in the direct address. You groan once more.

Marnus transfers the sandwich on to a dish and moves toward the fridge. “Not many people do this,” he remarks, “but I genuinely enjoy the grilled sandwich chilled. Boom, in the fridge. You get that cheese to harden up, head to practice, come back. Boom. It’s ideal.”

On-Field Matters

Okay, to cut to the chase. How about we cover the match details out of the way first? Little treat for making it this far. And while there may be just six weeks until the series opener, Labuschagne’s hundred against Tasmania – his third this season in all cricket – feels significantly impactful.

This is an Australia top three badly short of form and structure, shown up by the South African team in the WTC final, highlighted further in the following Caribbean tour. Labuschagne was left out during that series, but on one hand you gathered Australia were eager to bring him back at the first opportunity. Now he seems to have given them the ideal reason.

This represents a strategy Australia must implement. Khawaja has one century in his last 44 knocks. The young batsman looks less like a Test match opener and more like the good-looking star who might portray a cricketer in a Bollywood movie. None of the alternatives has shown convincing form. Nathan McSweeney looks cooked. Another option is still oddly present, like dust or mold. Meanwhile their leader, Pat Cummins, is hurt and suddenly this appears as a unusually thin squad, missing strength or equilibrium, the kind of built-in belief that has often given Australia a lead before a ball is bowled.

Labuschagne’s Return

Enter Marnus: a top-ranked Test batsman as just two years ago, freshly dropped from the ODI side, the ideal candidate to restore order to a shaky team. And we are told this is a calmer and more meditative Labuschagne now: a simplified, no-frills Labuschagne, no longer as maniacally obsessed with minor adjustments. “I believe I have really stripped it back,” he said after his century. “Not overthinking, just what I should make runs.”

Of course, nobody truly believes this. In all likelihood this is a fresh image that exists entirely in Labuschagne’s mind: still constantly refining that technique from morning to night, going more back to basics than any player has attempted. Like basic approach? Marnus will devote weeks in the nets with coaches and video clips, exhaustively remoulding himself into the most basic batsman that has ever existed. This is just the trait of the obsessed, and the quality that has consistently made Labuschagne one of the most wildly absorbing players in the cricket.

Wider Context

It could be before this very open historic rivalry, there is even a sort of appealing difference to Labuschagne’s endless focus. For England we have a side for whom detailed examination, especially personal critique, is a kind of dangerous taboo. Feel the flavours. Be where the ball is. Smell the now.

For Australia you have a player such as Labuschagne, a player terminally obsessed with the sport and wonderfully unconcerned by others’ opinions, who finds cricket even in the spaces between the cricket, who handles this unusual pursuit with exactly the level of quirky respect it deserves.

This approach succeeded. During his intense period – from the instant he appeared to substitute for an injured Smith at Lord’s in 2019 to around the end of 2022 – Labuschagne somehow managed to see the game with greater insight. To tap into it – through absolute focus – on a elevated, strange, passionate tier. During his days playing English county cricket, fellow players saw him on the game day sitting on a park bench in a meditative condition, actually imagining all balls of his batting stint. Per cricket statisticians, during the first few years of his career a surprisingly high catches were spilled from his batting. Remarkably Labuschagne had predicted events before others could react to affect it.

Current Struggles

It’s possible this was why his career began to disintegrate 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 stopped trusting his favorite stroke, got unable to move forward and seemed to misjudge his positioning. But it’s part of the same issue. Meanwhile his coach, D’Costa, believes a focus on white-ball cricket started to weaken assurance in his alignment. Positive development: he’s now excluded 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 predetermined, who thus sees his job as one of achieving this peak performance, no matter how mysterious it may seem to the rest of us.

This mindset, to my mind, has consistently been the key distinction between him and the other batsman, a inherently talented player