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Marnus methodically applies butter on both sides of a slice of soft bread. “That’s essential,” he tells the camera as he closes the lid of his toastie maker. “Perfect. Then you get it toasted on both sides.” He lifts the lid to reveal a golden square of pure toasted goodness, the bubbling cheese happily sizzling within. “So this is the secret method,” he declares. At which point, he does something shocking and odd.

Already, it’s clear a layer of boredom is beginning to cover your eyes. The red lights of elaborate writing are flashing wildly. You’re no doubt informed that Labuschagne made 160 runs for his state team this week and is being feverishly talked up for an Australian Test recall before the Ashes.

You likely wish to read more about his performance. But first – you now realise with an anguished sigh – you’re going to have to endure several lines of light-hearted musing about toasties, plus an extra unwanted bonus paragraph of overly analytical commentary in the “you” perspective. You groan once more.

Labuschagne flips the sandwich on to a dish and walks across the fridge. “Few try this,” he remarks, “but I genuinely enjoy the toastie cold. There, in the fridge. You allow the cheese to set, go bat, come back. Alright. Toastie’s ready to go.”

On-Field Matters

Okay, here’s the main point. How about we cover the match details to begin with? Little treat for making it this far. And while there may be just six weeks until the initial match, Labuschagne’s hundred against the Tigers – his third in recent months in all cricket – feels importantly timed.

This is an Aussie opening batsmen clearly missing consistency and technique, shown up by the South African team in the WTC final, highlighted further in the Caribbean afterwards. Labuschagne was omitted during that series, but on a certain level you sensed Australia were keen to restore him at the first opportunity. Now he seems to have given them the ideal reason.

Here is a approach the team should follow. The opener has just one 100 in his past 44 innings. The young batsman looks less like a first-innings batsman and closer to the handsome actor who might act as a batsman in a Bollywood movie. No other options has presented a strong argument. One contender looks cooked. Harris is still surprisingly included, like dust or mold. Meanwhile their captain, the pace bowler, is hurt and suddenly this seems like a unusually thin squad, short of command or stability, the kind of natural confidence that has often put Australia 2-0 up before a match begins.

Marnus’s Comeback

Enter Marnus: a top-ranked Test batsman as just two years ago, freshly dropped from the ODI side, the right person to restore order to a shaky team. And we are advised this is a more relaxed and thoughtful Labuschagne these days: a pared-down, no-frills Labuschagne, no longer as intensely fixated with small details. “I believe I have really simplified things,” he said after his ton. “Not really too technical, just what I need to score runs.”

Naturally, few accept this. Probably this is a rebrand that exists just in Labuschagne’s own head: still furiously stripping down that method from all day, going deeper into fundamentals than anyone else would try. Like basic approach? Marnus will devote weeks in the nets with advisors and replays, completely transforming into the most basic batsman that has ever existed. That’s the nature of the addict, and the quality that has long made Labuschagne one of the deeply fascinating players in the cricket.

The Broader Picture

Maybe before this inscrutably unpredictable England-Australia contest, there is even a type of appealing difference to Labuschagne’s constant dedication. In England we have a side for whom detailed examination, let alone self-analysis, is a kind of dangerous taboo. Go with instinct. Stay in the moment. Live in the instant.

For Australia you have a player such as Labuschagne, a individual completely dedicated with cricket and totally indifferent by others’ opinions, who sees cricket even in the spaces between the cricket, who approaches this quirky game with just the right measure of odd devotion it deserves.

And it worked. During his focused era – from the moment he strode out to come in for a hurt the senior batsman at Lord’s Cricket Ground in 2019 to through 2022 – Labuschagne somehow managed to see the game more deeply. To reach it – through sheer intensity of will – on a different, unusual, intense plane. During his time with English county cricket, colleagues noticed him on the game day positioned on a seat in a meditative condition, literally visualising every single ball of his innings. As per Cricviz, during the first few years of his career a surprisingly high proportion of catches were dropped off his bat. Remarkably Labuschagne had anticipated outcomes before anyone had a chance to change it.

Current Struggles

Perhaps this was why his form started to decline the point he became number one. There were no worlds left to visualise, just a empty space 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 part of the same issue. Meanwhile his coach, his coach, reckons a focus on white-ball cricket started to erode confidence in his alignment. Encouragingly: he’s now excluded from the 50-over squad.

No doubt it’s important, too, that Labuschagne is a man of deep religious faith, an committed Christian who holds that this is all predetermined, who thus sees his task as one of achieving this peak performance, despite being puzzling it may seem to the rest of us.

This mindset, to my mind, has long been the main point of difference between him and Smith, a more naturally gifted player