Australia’s chief selector George Bailey has expressed his sympathy for overlooked youngster Sam Konstas and given him the roap map back into the Test team.
Konstas was cast aside for Tasmanian opener Jake Weatherald after a high profile shootout for an opening batting spot against England.
Konstas, 20, was the hottest property in Australian cricket last year, smashing four boundaries and two sixes on his way to a score of 60 in the Boxing Day Test against India.
But it’s been a roller coaster ride without enough peaks since then.
“I feel for Sammy because I feel like at the moment, if he farts, it’s a headline,” Bailey said on Wednesday.
“There’s a handful of young guys his age playing Shield cricket around the country and they’re all learning and they’re all going through a journey of becoming the best cricketer they can be.
Sam Konstas. (Photo by Albert Perez/Getty Images)
“Sammy’s no different to that. He just happens to be doing it under what seems to be immense scrutiny at the moment. We really like him. There’s the investment. He’s been in and around Boxing Day Tests. He’s been on subcontinent tours. Aussie A tours. So we like the skill set there.
“I’m confident that over the long run, it’ll continue to build out it. It’s not going to be linear. No one’s passage through their career is linear. But the message is just to keep it simple and score runs and bat for as long as you can for New South Wales.”
Former Australia skipper Steve Waugh had his own ups and downs early in his career, losing his place in the Test team to brother Mark in one bracing moment.
“He actually reminds me of myself when I first started playing for Australia,” Waugh said on Wednesday. “Not fully confident of being in the side, up and down, form not quite there – so he’s probably lacking a bit of confidence.
“I’d go back to Shield cricket, try and build some long innings – bat for as long as you can, and just get to know your game really well. That way when you walk out to play for Australia, you’re confident in what you’re doing.
“I think right now he’s probably guessing how he should play, there’s a lot of expectations, so he’s probably not playing with a clear mind.
“(Don’t) listen to everybody. Just trust one or two people around you. Go back to basics. At the end of the day, it’s really hard to learn how to play Test cricket while you’re playing Test cricket. That’s what happened to me for a couple of years. I wasn’t really that finished product.”
Konstas will have a chance to tackle his omission head-on with a Sheffield Shield clash against Victoria at the SCG from Monday, and Bailey expects him to feature again at the top level in future.
“Every conversation with Sam is a joy – he’s got a great outlook on life, remains incredibly upbeat,” he said. “(We wanted to) check in, see how he’s feeling about the start of the year, what his focus is at the moment, and then just more what we could do to support him going forward and what we’d like to see.
“And as complicated as we try and make cricket, really it’s about runs.”
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