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The Australian batsman methodically applies butter on the top and bottom of a slice of plain bread. “That’s the secret,” he states as he brings down the lid of his toastie maker. “There you go. Then you get it crisp on both sides.” He checks inside to reveal a golden square of pure toasted goodness, the melted cheese happily bubbling away. “Here’s the secret method,” he explains. At which point, he does something shocking and odd.

At this stage, it’s clear a layer of boredom is beginning to appear in your eyes. The red lights of sportswriting pretension are going off. You’re probably aware that Labuschagne scored 160 for his state team this week and is being feverishly talked up for an Australian Test recall before the Ashes.

No doubt you’d prefer to read more about his performance. But first – you now understand with frustration – you’re going to have to sit through a section of light-hearted musing about toasted sandwiches, plus an additional unnecessary part of overly analytical commentary in the “you” perspective. You feel resigned.

Labuschagne flips the sandwich on to a plate and moves toward the fridge. “Not many people do this,” he remarks, “but I actually like the toastie cold. Done, in the fridge. You get that cheese to harden up, go bat, come back. Alright. Toastie’s ready to go.”

Back to Cricket

Okay, here’s the main point. How about we cover the sports aspect initially? Small reward for your patience. And while there may still be six weeks until the first Test, Labuschagne’s hundred against Tasmania – his third of the summer in various games – feels significantly impactful.

This is an Aussie opening batsmen badly short of consistency and technique, revealed against the Proteas in the World Test Championship final, shown up once more in the following Caribbean tour. Labuschagne was left out during that trip, but on a certain level you felt Australia were keen to restore him at the first opportunity. Now he looks to have given them the ideal reason.

And this is a plan that Australia need to work. The opener has a single hundred in his last 44 knocks. Sam Konstas looks hardly a Test opener and rather like the attractive performer who might portray a cricketer in a Bollywood movie. None of the alternatives has presented a strong argument. McSweeney looks finished. Marcus Harris is still oddly present, like moths or damp. Meanwhile their skipper, the pace bowler, is hurt and suddenly this feels like a unusually thin squad, lacking command or stability, the kind of natural confidence that has often put Australia 2-0 up before a match begins.

Marnus’s Comeback

Here comes Labuschagne: a world No 1 Test batter as in the recent past, just left out from the 50-over squad, the perfect character to bring stability to a brittle empire. And we are advised this is a composed and reflective Labuschagne currently: a pared-down, fundamental-focused Labuschagne, less intensely fixated with minor adjustments. “I believe I have really cut out extras,” he said after his hundred. “Less focused on technique, just what I should make runs.”

Naturally, few accept this. Probably this is a new approach that exists entirely in Labuschagne’s personal view: still endlessly adjusting that technique from morning to night, going further toward simplicity than anyone has ever dared. Prefer simplicity? Marnus will take time in the practice sessions with trainers and footage, thoroughly reshaping his game into the least technical batter that has ever played. This is just the quality of the focused, and the quality that has always made Labuschagne one of the most wildly absorbing sportsmen in the sport.

Bigger Scene

It could be before this highly uncertain historic rivalry, there is even a kind of interesting contrast to Labuschagne’s constant dedication. In England we have a squad for whom any kind of analysis, let alone self-analysis, is a forbidden topic. Trust your gut. Be where the ball is. Embrace the current.

On the opposite side you have a player such as Labuschagne, a individual terminally obsessed with the sport and magnificently unbothered by others’ opinions, who sees cricket even in the gaps in the game, who treats this absurd sport with exactly the level of odd devotion it requires.

This approach succeeded. During his shamanic phase – from the time he walked out to replace a concussed Smith at Lord’s Cricket Ground in 2019 to around the end of 2022 – Labuschagne found a way to see the game more deeply. To access it – through absolute focus – on a elevated, strange, passionate tier. During his days playing English county cricket, teammates would find him on the game day sitting on a park bench in a meditative condition, literally visualising each delivery of his innings. According to the analytics firm, during the first few years of his career a statistically unfathomable proportion of catches were spilled from his batting. In some way Labuschagne had anticipated outcomes before anyone had a chance to affect it.

Form Issues

It’s possible this was why his career began to disintegrate the point he became number one. There were no further goals to picture, just a boundless, uncharted void before his eyes. Additionally – he began doubting his signature shot, got unable to move forward and seemed to misjudge his positioning. But it’s connected really. Meanwhile his trainer, Neil D’Costa, believes a emphasis on limited-overs started to erode confidence in his technique. Encouragingly: he’s now excluded from the one-day team.

Surely it matters, too, that Labuschagne is a devoutly religious individual, an evangelical Christian who believes 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 mortal of us.

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