Marnus Labuschagne has emerged from his longest break in cricket in seven years super confident he has regained the formula to scoring Test centuries again.
Instead of being "greedy" for runs, Labuschagne will trust the process that has worked so well for him in the past.
The 32-year-old last played for Australia on June 14 in the ODI series in Bangladesh, the same nation he will play two Tests against this month in Darwin and Mackay.
Australia’s No.3 has not scored a century in his past 21 Tests. His last ton was back in July of 2023 when he made 111 at Manchester.
"It's certainly very important to start these two Tests well,” Labuschagne said in Brisbane during a match simulation with the Australian team.
Labuschagne said the break of eight weeks had allowed him to go back to the fundamentals. Ten of his 11 Test centuries were scored in a purple patch between 2019 and 2022, and that is the sort of form he is seeking to return to.
“Working on my game and spending hours and hours on the simple things like my shots, working on my shapes and my technique as a whole is something I definitely needed,” he said.
"When you're on the road playing for probably the last seven or eight years straight, this is the longest break I've had.
“There have been times where I've tried to get things in order, but I just run out of time to fully commit to those small changes.
"It's been really nice to go back and find my best form and what it looks like for me to play at my best.
"The preparation over the last few weeks here with Australia has been great for that. Hopefully we can see the results off the back of all the hard work."
Instead of being invested in big scores, the Queensland captain is determined to trust the process that has worked for him in the past.
“When you've missed out a few times, you get a little greedy and start searching for runs and you are not letting the game come to you,” he said.
"It's really important for me to not get too invested in the runs. We want the runs, but we want the process and that is what I am looking for.
"The runs will come as the journey goes on if I keep trusting my game.
"I think that's what I did really well through that period that I went really well. I trusted my game, trusted how I went about batting, reading the game and understanding what the team needed from me in that moment.
"That's what I'm looking forward to.”
Labuschagne looked good in the Ashes series last summer on several occasions only to be dismissed just when he appeared set to kick on and make a big total.
He said “a little bit of a lack of confidence” played a part.
"There were a few dismissals last summer … where you're going well and you just rush the process. You want to get to that three-figure score rather than staying in the moment," he said.
"I've reflected a lot over these last two months about when I played my best cricket. It was just letting the game come to me."
