Labuschagne methodically applies butter on each surface of a slice of white bread. “That’s the secret,” he states as he closes the lid of his sandwich grill. “Perfect. Then you get it toasted on both sides.” He checks inside to reveal a perfectly browned of delicious perfection, the gooey cheese happily melting inside. “Here’s the trick of the trade,” he explains. At which point, he does something unexpected and strange.
Already, I sense a glaze of ennui is beginning to appear in your eyes. The red lights of sportswriting pretension are flashing wildly. You’re probably aware that Labuschagne hit 160 for his state team this week and is being feverishly talked up for an return to the Test side before the England-Australia contest.
You probably want to read more about that. But first – you now grasp with irritation – you’re going to have to endure a section of playful digression about toasties, plus an additional unnecessary part of overly analytical commentary in the second person. You groan once more.
Marnus transfers the sandwich on to a plate and heads over the fridge. “Few try this,” he states, “but I genuinely enjoy the grilled sandwich chilled. Boom, in the fridge. You let the cheese firm up, go bat, come back. Alright. It’s ideal.”
On-Field Matters
Look, let’s try it like this. Shall we get the cricket bit initially? Small reward for reading until now. And while there may only be six weeks until the first Test, Labuschagne’s 100 runs against the Tigers – his third of the summer in all cricket – feels quietly decisive.
We have an Australian top order seriously lacking form and structure, shown up by South Africa in the WTC final, highlighted further in the West Indies after that. Labuschagne was omitted during that series, but on a certain level you gathered Australia were desperate to rehabilitate him at the first opportunity. Now he looks to have given them the right opportunity.
Here is a plan that Australia need to work. Khawaja has a single hundred in his last 44 knocks. Sam Konstas looks less like a Test opener and more like the attractive performer who might portray a cricketer in a Indian film. No other options has presented a strong argument. One contender looks finished. Harris is still oddly present, like unwanted guests. Meanwhile their captain, the pace bowler, is unfit and suddenly this feels like a surprisingly weak team, lacking strength or equilibrium, the kind of built-in belief that has often given Australia a lead before a game starts.
Labuschagne’s Return
Step forward Marnus: a world No 1 Test batter as recently as 2023, freshly dropped from the 50-over squad, the perfect character to bring stability to a shaky team. And we are told this is a calmer and more meditative Labuschagne currently: a simplified, no-frills Labuschagne, not as extremely focused with small details. “I believe I have really stripped it back,” he said after his hundred. “Less focused on technique, just what I need to score runs.”
Naturally, this is doubted. In all likelihood this is a new approach that exists only in Labuschagne’s mind: still endlessly adjusting that technique from morning to night, going more back to basics than anyone has ever dared. Prefer simplicity? Marnus will spend months in the practice sessions with coaches and video clips, thoroughly reshaping his game into the most basic batsman that has ever existed. This is simply the trait of the obsessed, and the quality that has consistently made Labuschagne one of the deeply fascinating cricketers in the sport.
Bigger Scene
Perhaps before this very open England-Australia contest, there is even a sort of appealing difference to Labuschagne’s unquenchable obsession. On England’s side we have a side for whom detailed examination, not to mention self-review, is a risky subject. Trust your gut. Be where the ball is. Embrace the current.
In the other corner you have a batsman like Labuschagne, a man completely dedicated with the game and magnificently unbothered by who knows about it, who observes cricket even in the moments outside play, who handles this unusual pursuit with just the right measure of absurd reverence it deserves.
And it worked. During his intense period – from the instant he appeared to substitute for an injured Steve Smith at Lord’s in 2019 to until late 2022 – Labuschagne found a way to see the game on another level. To reach it – through sheer intensity of will – on a elevated, strange, passionate tier. During his time with Kent league cricket, colleagues noticed him on the morning of a game resting on a bench in a focused mindset, mentally rehearsing every single ball of his time at the crease. According to Cricviz, during the initial period of his career a unusually large number of chances were spilled from his batting. Somehow Labuschagne had intuited what would happen before others could react to influence it.
Recent Challenges
Maybe this was why his performance dipped the point he became number one. There were no further goals to picture, just a unknown territory before his eyes. Also – to be fair – he began doubting his favorite stroke, got stuck in his crease and seemed to misjudge his positioning. But it’s connected really. Meanwhile his trainer, D’Costa, thinks a emphasis on limited-overs started to undermine belief in his technique. Encouragingly: he’s now excluded from the ODI side.
Certainly it’s relevant, too, that Labuschagne is a devoutly religious individual, an religious believer who believes that this is all preordained, who thus sees his role as one of reaching this optimal zone, despite being puzzling it may look to the rest of us.
This, to my mind, has always been the primary contrast between him and Smith, a inherently talented player
