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Marnus methodically applies butter on the top and bottom of a slice of white bread. “That’s the key,” he states as he lowers the lid of his sandwich grill. “Perfect. Then you get it golden on each side.” He opens the grill to reveal a perfectly browned of delicious perfection, the melted cheese happily sizzling within. “So this is the secret method,” he announces. At which point, he does something unexpected and strange.

Already, you may feel a sense of disinterest is beginning to appear in your eyes. The red lights of overly fancy prose are going off. You’re no doubt informed that Labuschagne hit 160 for his state team this week and is being feverishly talked up for an national team comeback before the England-Australia contest.

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 a section of wobbling whimsy about toasted sandwiches, plus an additional unnecessary part of tiresome meta‑deconstruction in the direct address. You feel resigned.

Marnus transfers the sandwich on to a plate and heads over the fridge. “It’s uncommon,” he states, “but I actually like the cold toastie. There, in the fridge. You let the cheese firm up, go bat, come back. Boom. It’s ideal.”

On-Field Matters

Okay, let’s try it like this. Shall we get the match details to begin with? Little treat for making it this far. And while there may only be six weeks until the first Test, Labuschagne’s hundred against the Tigers – his third this season in all formats – feels quietly decisive.

Here’s an Aussie opening batsmen seriously lacking performance and method, shown up by South Africa in the Test championship decider, shown up once more in the following Caribbean tour. Labuschagne was dropped during that series, but on one hand you felt Australia were keen to restore him at the earliest chance. Now he appears to have given them the right opportunity.

And this is a approach the team should follow. Khawaja has a single hundred in his recent 44 batting efforts. Sam Konstas looks less like a Test opener and rather like the good-looking star who might portray a cricketer in a Indian film. No other options has shown convincing form. McSweeney looks finished. Harris is still inexplicably hanging around, like moths or damp. Meanwhile their captain, the pace bowler, is hurt and suddenly this feels like a surprisingly weak team, lacking strength or equilibrium, the kind of built-in belief that has often put Australia 2-0 up before a ball is bowled.

Marnus’s Comeback

Step forward Marnus: a leading Test player as just two years ago, recently omitted from the 50-over squad, the ideal candidate to bring stability to a brittle empire. And we are advised this is a calmer and more meditative Labuschagne these days: a simplified, fundamental-focused Labuschagne, less extremely focused with small details. “I feel like I’ve really stripped it back,” he said after his ton. “Less focused on technique, just what I need to make runs.”

Naturally, nobody truly believes this. In all likelihood this is a fresh image that exists only in Labuschagne’s personal view: still endlessly adjusting that technique from all day, going more back to basics than anyone has ever dared. Like basic approach? Marnus will devote weeks in the practice sessions with trainers and footage, thoroughly reshaping his game into the most basic batsman that has ever played. This is just the nature of the addict, and the trait that has long made Labuschagne one of the highly engaging sportsmen in the game.

Bigger Scene

It could be before this inscrutably unpredictable England-Australia contest, there is even a sort of pleasing dissonance to Labuschagne’s unquenchable obsession. In England we have a side for whom detailed examination, especially personal critique, is a forbidden topic. Feel the flavours. Be where the ball is. Smell the now.

For Australia you have a batsman like Labuschagne, a individual terminally obsessed with the sport and totally indifferent by who knows about it, who finds cricket even in the moments outside play, who approaches this quirky game with precisely the amount of odd devotion it requires.

This approach succeeded. During his focused era – from the instant he appeared to substitute for an injured Steve Smith at Lord’s in 2019 to around the end of 2022 – Labuschagne somehow managed to see the game on another level. To reach it – through sheer intensity of will – on a different, unusual, intense plane. During his days playing Kent league cricket, teammates would find him on the morning of a game positioned on a seat in a meditative condition, mentally rehearsing every single ball of his batting stint. As per the analytics firm, during the early stages of his career a unusually large number of chances were dropped off his bat. In some way Labuschagne had predicted events before anyone had a chance to affect it.

Form Issues

It’s possible this was why his form started to decline the moment he reached the summit. There were no new heights to imagine, 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 misjudge his positioning. But it’s part of the same issue. Meanwhile his mentor, his coach, reckons a focus on white-ball cricket started to erode confidence in his positioning. Positive development: he’s now excluded from the 50-over squad.

Surely it matters, too, that Labuschagne is a man of deep religious faith, an evangelical Christian who holds that this is all preordained, who thus sees his role as one of accessing this state of flow, however enigmatic and inexplicable it may seem to the mortal of us.

This approach, to my mind, has long been the primary contrast between him and Steve Smith, a more naturally gifted player