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The Australian batsman evenly coats butter on both sides of a slice of soft bread. “That’s the secret,” he explains as he lowers the lid of his sandwich grill. “Perfect. Then you get it golden on each side.” He checks inside to reveal a toasted delight of pure toasted goodness, the gooey cheese happily bubbling away. “Here’s the secret method,” he declares. At which point, he does something horrific and unspeakable.

Already, I sense a layer of boredom is beginning to appear in your eyes. The red lights of elaborate writing are flashing wildly. You’re probably aware that Labuschagne made 160 runs for Queensland Bulls this week and is being eagerly promoted for an Australian Test recall 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 sit through several lines of light-hearted musing about toasted sandwiches, plus an additional unnecessary part of tiresome meta‑deconstruction in the “you” perspective. You feel resigned.

He turns the sandwich on to a serving plate and moves toward the fridge. “Not many people do this,” he states, “but I personally prefer the cold toastie. Done, in the fridge. You get that cheese to harden up, go bat, come back. Alright. It’s ideal.”

Back to Cricket

Okay, let’s try it like this. How about we cover the sports aspect out of the way first? Quick update for making it this far. And while there may only be six weeks until the initial match, Labuschagne’s 100 runs against the Tasmanian side – his third this season in all cricket – feels significantly impactful.

Here’s an Australia top three badly short of performance and method, shown up by the Proteas in the World Test Championship final, shown up once more in the West Indies after that. Labuschagne was dropped during that trip, but on one hand you gathered Australia were eager to bring him back at the first opportunity. Now he appears to have given them the right opportunity.

This represents a plan that Australia need to work. Usman Khawaja has one century in his past 44 innings. Konstas looks hardly a Test opener and more like the handsome actor who might portray a cricketer in a Bollywood movie. Other candidates has presented a strong argument. Nathan McSweeney looks out of form. Harris is still oddly present, like dust or mold. 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 put Australia 2-0 up before a game starts.

The Batsman’s Revival

Step forward Marnus: a world No 1 Test batter as just two years ago, just left out from the ODI side, the perfect character to return structure to a brittle empire. And we are told this is a calmer and more meditative Labuschagne now: a pared-down, fundamental-focused Labuschagne, not as extremely focused with small details. “I believe I have really cut out extras,” he said after his ton. “Not really too technical, just what I must score runs.”

Naturally, this is doubted. In all likelihood this is a new approach that exists just in Labuschagne’s own head: still endlessly adjusting that approach from morning to night, going deeper into fundamentals than anyone else would try. Prefer simplicity? Marnus will devote weeks in the nets with trainers and footage, completely transforming into the least technical batter that has ever existed. This is just the nature of the addict, and the trait that has always made Labuschagne one of the most wildly absorbing players in the cricket.

The Broader Picture

Perhaps before this highly uncertain Ashes series, there is even a type of appealing difference to Labuschagne’s unquenchable obsession. In England we have a squad for whom detailed examination, especially personal critique, is a kind of dangerous taboo. Go with instinct. Be where the ball is. Live in the instant.

In the other corner you have a individual like Labuschagne, a man terminally obsessed with the sport and wonderfully unconcerned by public perception, who finds cricket even in the gaps in the game, who approaches this quirky game with exactly the level of absurd reverence it deserves.

And it worked. During his focused era – from the instant he appeared to replace a concussed Smith at Lord’s Cricket Ground in 2019 to until late 2022 – Labuschagne was able to see the game with greater insight. To reach it – through absolute focus – on a higher, weirder, more frenzied level. During his time with club cricket, fellow players saw him on the morning of a game sitting on a park bench in a focused mindset, literally visualising each delivery of his time at the crease. According to the analytics firm, during the first few years of his career a unusually large catches were missed when he batted. Somehow Labuschagne had intuited what would happen before fielders could respond to change it.

Form Issues

It’s possible this was why his career began to disintegrate the time he achieved top ranking. There were no worlds left to visualise, just a boundless, uncharted void before his eyes. Furthermore – he began doubting his favorite stroke, got trapped on the crease and seemed to misjudge his positioning. But it’s all the same thing. Meanwhile his mentor, Neil D’Costa, thinks a emphasis on limited-overs started to erode confidence in his alignment. Good news: he’s recently omitted from the ODI side.

No doubt it’s important, too, that Labuschagne is a devoutly religious individual, an committed Christian who holds that this is all predetermined, who thus sees his task as one of accessing this state of flow, 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