Queensland cricketer James Bazley remembers "super clearly" the first time he met Marnus Labuschagne.
"I played against him — I was from the Sunny Coast, Marnus was in Brisbane — we played at a regional carnival and Marnus was this really good batsman, but really loud in the field.
"He had these long skins on, he had the Zinc all over his nose, food hanging down his shirt.
"You just couldn't forget him, like 'who's this guy?' and had a bit of a chat after the game and, just from there, never forgot about him," Bazley explains.
The two played against each other through the junior ranks, eventually representing Queensland together at underage level and becoming good mates.
Bazley knows as well as anyone the driving forces behind the world's number-one batsman — a milestone he reached, according to ICC rankings, during the recent Ashes series.
Labuschagne's next challenge will be to anchor Australia's batting on what promises to be a challenging three-Test tour of Pakistan, starting today in Rawalpindi — which he will no doubt approach in his own unique way.
Labuschagne is an unusual cat. You only have to watch how he bats and fields, or how his teammates interact with him, to realise he's cut from a different cloth to most cricketers.
He's got quirky mannerisms. He's twitchy. He never stops talking. He's unnervingly positive in his words and actions. He goes viral on TikTok. Some commentators even find him "annoying".
Labuschagne says he's just being himself.
"I'm very enthusiastic about the game and also in life. I'm an optimist," he told the ABC
"I always think the best of people and also the best of any situation. But, look, I don't think my personality changes much from being on-field to being off the field. I try and be, you know, an enjoyable person to be around, always smiling, happy, because I get to do what I love — and it's an honour and a privilege to be able to play for Australia."
And what about people like Shane Warne who think he's irritating?
"You've just got to keep being true to yourself."
Bazley says that despite his intensity and competitiveness, Labuschagne is just a good bloke.
"I absolutely love that about him, definitely stays true to himself.
"And that's so important, you know, in this industry and in life as well, you know what I mean?
"Everyone's different. Everyone's unique.
"Cricket aside, we're great mates and he's a really loyal friend, which is important.
"He is a great friend, he is a caring guy. He cares about you as a person, not just a cricketer."
How Labuschagne's unique personality drove him to the pinnacle of cricket
That endless well of positivity that some find jarring, along with an unequalled obsession with the game of cricket (well, perhaps only equalled by Steve Smith) are the traits which most helped to forge the Labuschagne we see today, who averages nearly 57 with the bat and has six hundreds and twelve fifties in just 23 Tests.
"I think as a professional, you have to be obsessed to be this good," Bazley says of his friend.
"All of us love the game and I think some people just don't feel like they outwardly display that, but Marnus certainly does, more than anyone else.
"And that's infectious, too, he is willing to help everyone around the group, he is willing to challenge people, he is willing to be a great leader."
Labuschagne himself points out you really have to love something in order to keep doing it even though you're failing so often.
"I've always loved batting. But I love the challenge of the game," he says.
"As a batter, it's more testing mentally than physically, you know, missing out as a kid.
"All those kids that are playing cricket, you miss out, almost, well, you certainly miss out more than you do well, right?
"So, dealing with that disappointment.
"The game, it's so challenging, which makes it so rewarding when you do well."
Grinding his way to the top
Though we're witnessing Labuschagne's career flourishing at the highest level, Bazley points out he hasn't always had it easy.
Bazley says "it's certainly no surprise" that Labuschagne is now the top-ranked batsman in the world but that: "His journey hasn't been easy and that's important to know as well.
"There's been plenty of lows in his journey and, you know, you probably wouldn't read about that as much.
"But he's just kept working, he's persisted through some challenging times in his career so that's made it all the sweeter for him and certainly for his close people around him to see.
"It's been a journey in the making."
Problems and solutions
Footage of Labuschagne's homemade, aluminium-studded subcontinental training pitch went viral recently.
It's simply representative of how he thinks of everything. Life throws up problems, you have to come up with solutions.
"That's how my mind works," he says.
"It always has, you know, it's kind of the same way for my batting.
"I'm always thinking about: 'What's the problem here? How are they trying to get you out?'
"And then try and assess it.
"So probably a similar thing with recreating different conditions — if I'm trying to recreate spinning conditions, well, I sit there and I think about what conditions I'll face.
"I've watched a lot of cricket in the subcontinent, so some balls spin big, some slide on.
"And I tried a few different fabrics and stuff on the bottom, sticking them on, but they weren't hard enough so they weren't skidding on. So I thought, 'what if I put some thin, hard metal aluminium so that the ball can speed up off the wicket?
"And then just trying to modify it from there."
Having fun is still the most important part of cricket for Labuschagne.
"You just enjoying playing, you're not thinking about the consequences, but you're just enjoying it and working stuff out while you're playing."
The other kind of grind
Beer and baked beans might have been the extent of the Australian cricket team's culinary culture in past generations, but Labuschagne is slowly introducing a more sophisticated blend.
He's been a coffee fanatic since he was a teenager and now ensures an espresso machine travels with the team wherever it goes.
He got his first coffee machine as a 19th birthday present from his future in-laws and has been obsessed with the grind ever since.
"I sort of just became really passionate about it, interested in beans, making coffee, barista skills and stuff like that.
"I obviously travel with my machine now when I go overseas. We've got a team machine coming with us.
"It's really exciting that, you know, it's sort of become a part of us as a team culture as well."
