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The Australian batsman evenly coats butter on each surface of a slice of white bread. “That’s the key,” he states as he closes the lid of his sandwich grill. “There you go. Then you get it crisp on each side.” He checks inside to reveal a toasted delight of delicious perfection, the gooey cheese happily bubbling away. “Here’s the key technique,” he declares. 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 red lights of overly fancy prose are going off. You’re probably aware that Labuschagne scored 160 for Queensland Bulls this week and is being widely discussed for an return to the Test side before the Ashes.

No doubt you’d prefer to read more about that. But first – you now understand with frustration – you’re going to have to sit through three paragraphs of light-hearted musing about toasties, plus an extra unwanted bonus paragraph of tiresome meta‑deconstruction in the second person. You groan once more.

He turns the sandwich on to a plate and moves toward the fridge. “Few try this,” he remarks, “but I personally prefer the grilled sandwich chilled. Done, in the fridge. You let the cheese firm up, go bat, come back. Alright. It’s ideal.”

On-Field Matters

Alright, let’s try it like this. Shall we get the cricket bit out of the way first? Little treat for your patience. And while there may only be six weeks until the series opener, Labuschagne’s 100 runs against Tasmania – his third of the summer in all cricket – feels importantly timed.

This is an Australia top three clearly missing consistency and technique, shown up by South Africa in the WTC final, highlighted further in the West Indies after that. Labuschagne was omitted during that trip, but on a certain level you sensed Australia were desperate to rehabilitate him at the earliest chance. Now he seems to have given them the perfect excuse.

And this is a approach the team should follow. Usman Khawaja has just one 100 in his last 44 knocks. Konstas looks not quite a Test opener and rather like the good-looking star who might portray a cricketer in a Indian film. No other options has presented a strong argument. One contender looks finished. Marcus Harris is still surprisingly included, like dust or mold. Meanwhile their skipper, the pace bowler, is injured and suddenly this appears as a surprisingly weak team, missing authority or balance, the kind of natural confidence that has often put Australia 2-0 up before a ball is bowled.

The Batsman’s Revival

Here comes Labuschagne: a top-ranked Test batsman as just two years ago, freshly dropped from the 50-over squad, the right person to bring stability to a shaky team. And we are told this is a composed and reflective Labuschagne these days: a simplified, back-to-basics Labuschagne, not as maniacally obsessed with minor adjustments. “I believe I have really simplified things,” he said after his hundred. “Less focused on technique, just what I should score runs.”

Naturally, nobody truly believes this. Most likely this is a new approach that exists only in Labuschagne’s mind: still furiously stripping down that approach from dawn to dusk, going deeper into fundamentals than anyone else would try. You want less technical? Marnus will spend months in the training with coaches and video clips, completely transforming into the least technical batter that has ever played. This is simply the trait of the obsessed, and the trait that has consistently made Labuschagne one of the deeply fascinating players in the sport.

The Broader Picture

It could be before this inscrutably unpredictable Ashes series, there is even a kind of interesting contrast to Labuschagne’s unquenchable obsession. On England’s side we have a team for whom detailed examination, especially personal critique, is a kind of dangerous taboo. Trust your gut. Stay in the moment. Embrace the current.

On the opposite side you have a player such as Labuschagne, a individual completely dedicated with the sport and totally indifferent by others’ opinions, who observes cricket even in the spaces between the cricket, who approaches this quirky game with exactly the level of quirky respect it requires.

And it worked. During his intense period – from the instant he appeared to replace a concussed the senior batsman at Lord’s in 2019 to through 2022 – Labuschagne was able to see the game more deeply. To tap into it – through sheer intensity of will – on a different, unusual, intense plane. During his stint in club cricket, fellow players saw him on the game day sitting on a park bench in a focused mindset, literally visualising every single ball of his innings. As per Cricviz, during the initial period of his career a surprisingly high proportion of catches were missed when he batted. Remarkably Labuschagne had anticipated outcomes before anyone had a chance to influence it.

Recent Challenges

It’s possible this was why his performance dipped the time he achieved top ranking. There were no further goals to picture, just a boundless, uncharted void before his eyes. Also – to be fair – he began doubting his cover drive, got unable to move forward and seemed to forget where his off-stump was. But it’s all the same thing. Meanwhile his mentor, Neil D’Costa, thinks a focus on white-ball cricket started to weaken assurance 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 committed Christian who thinks that this is all preordained, who thus sees his role as one of achieving this peak performance, no matter how mysterious it may seem to the rest of us.

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