Marnus methodically applies butter on each surface of a slice of white bread. “That’s the key,” he states as he brings down the lid of his sandwich grill. “Perfect. Then you get it toasted on each side.” He lifts the lid to reveal a golden square of ideal crispiness, the melted cheese happily bubbling away. “And that’s the secret method,” he declares. At which point, he does something horrific and unspeakable.
Already, you may feel a glaze of ennui is beginning to appear in your eyes. The warning signs of overly fancy prose are blinking intensely. You’re no doubt informed that Labuschagne hit 160 for Queensland this week and is being widely discussed for an Australian Test recall before the Ashes.
No doubt you’d prefer to read more about his performance. But first – you now realise with an anguished sigh – you’re going to have to get through a section of playful digression about toasties, plus an extra unwanted bonus paragraph of self-referential analysis in the “you” perspective. You groan once more.
Marnus transfers the sandwich on to a plate and heads over the fridge. “It’s uncommon,” he states, “but I personally prefer the grilled sandwich chilled. There, in the fridge. You allow the cheese to set, head to practice, come back. Perfect. It’s ideal.”
Back to Cricket
Alright, to cut to the chase. Let’s address the match details out of the way first? Small reward for your patience. And while there may be just six weeks until the series opener, Labuschagne’s 100 runs against Tasmania – his third of the summer in all formats – feels quietly decisive.
We have an Aussie opening batsmen seriously lacking performance and method, shown up by South Africa in the World Test Championship final, shown up once more in the following Caribbean tour. Labuschagne was left out during that series, but on some level you gathered Australia were keen to restore him at the first opportunity. Now he looks to have given them the ideal reason.
This represents a approach the team should follow. Usman Khawaja has just one 100 in his past 44 innings. Sam Konstas looks less like a first-innings batsman and closer to the attractive performer who might play a Test opener in a Indian film. No other options has shown convincing form. Nathan McSweeney looks out of form. Marcus Harris is still inexplicably hanging around, like unwanted guests. Meanwhile their skipper, the pace bowler, is unfit and suddenly this appears as a surprisingly weak team, missing command or stability, the kind of built-in belief that has often given Australia a lead before a game starts.
Marnus’s Comeback
Here comes Labuschagne: a leading Test player as in the recent past, freshly dropped from the 50-over squad, the ideal candidate to bring stability to a shaky team. And we are informed this is a composed and reflective Labuschagne these days: a pared-down, no-frills Labuschagne, no longer as intensely fixated with minor adjustments. “It seems I’ve really cut out extras,” he said after his ton. “Less focused on technique, just what I should bat effectively.”
Clearly, few accept this. Most likely this is a new approach that exists just in Labuschagne’s personal view: still endlessly adjusting that approach from morning to night, going more back to basics than any player has attempted. Like basic approach? Marnus will spend months in the practice sessions with advisors and replays, completely transforming into the simplest player that has ever played. This is just the trait of the obsessed, and the quality that has long made Labuschagne one of the highly engaging cricketers in the sport.
Bigger Scene
It could be before this highly uncertain England-Australia contest, there is even a kind of interesting contrast to Labuschagne’s unquenchable obsession. On England’s side we have a side for whom any kind of analysis, especially personal critique, is a risky subject. Go with instinct. Stay in the moment. Live in the instant.
On the opposite side you have a batsman like Labuschagne, a player utterly absorbed with the game and totally indifferent by others’ opinions, who finds cricket even in the gaps in the game, who treats this absurd sport with exactly the level of absurd reverence it deserves.
His method paid off. During his intense period – 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 on another level. To tap into 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 game day positioned on a seat in a trance-like state, mentally rehearsing every single ball of his batting stint. Per cricket statisticians, during the initial period of his career a surprisingly high catches were missed when he batted. Remarkably Labuschagne had intuited what would happen before anyone had a chance to change it.
Form Issues
Perhaps this was why his performance dipped the time he achieved top ranking. There were no worlds left to visualise, just a empty space before his eyes. Furthermore – he lost faith in his signature shot, got stuck in his crease and seemed to misjudge his positioning. But it’s connected really. Meanwhile his mentor, D’Costa, thinks a attention to shorter formats started to weaken assurance in his alignment. Encouragingly: he’s now excluded from the one-day team.
Surely it matters, too, that Labuschagne is a strongly faithful person, an committed Christian who thinks that this is all basically written out in advance, who thus sees his job as one of accessing this state of flow, despite being puzzling it may appear to the ordinary people.
This mindset, to my mind, has consistently been the main point of difference between him and the other batsman, a instinctive player
