The Sam Konstas post-script: Why Australians can’t make sense of the batting ‘wunderkid’, with each passing Sheffield Shield game | Cricket News

While Sam Konstas was absolute box office during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, his outings in Sheffield Shield post that have left Aussie greats boggled about what to make of the batting wunderkid who ramped Jasprit Bumrah even. His most recent failure with the bat during New South Wales’ Sheffield Shield match against Western Australia in Perth, drew a plethora of scrutiny and reactions. The 19-year-old opener was claimed seamer Joel Paris during the evening session of day one after miming a lofted drive towards mid-off, trudging off for 6, reported Fox Cricket.
Ignored for the Sri Lanka tour, Konstas has hit a barren run – struggling to get a first-class 50 since his unforgettable Test debut at the MCG on Boxing Day. His subsequent scores read 6, 17, 10, 22, 3, 22, 23 and 8, even as he has one match left to get into contention for June’s World Test Championship final against South Africa at Lord’s.
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His high-risk, high-reward style, and bearing on the field, however have split opinion.
Victorian coach Chris Rogers, was quoted Fox Last month saying he didn’t think Konstas himself was keen on playing the combative style. “It’s interesting because I know a couple of the boys who have been around him said he doesn’t particularly want to play like that. I wonder if it’s just he gets into the contest and his heart rate goes up and he makes these decisions a little bit on the fly. I really don’t know,” Rogers wondered.
While Pat Cummins had endorsed Konstas’ batting bravado in February, saying he’d rather that players err on the aggressive and overconfident side rather than sitting back and letting the game dictate them, older legends are scratching their heads.
Australian legend Allan Border believed his Bazball-adjacent approach isn’t sustainable, as per Fox. Story continues below this ad
“He’s 19, so he’s got that youthful exuberance. I don’t want to take that away from him. But can you play that way consently, constantly? We’re seeing the future. Blokes don’t want to just play conservatively, they want to attack the bowling. Is it the right way? There’s room for it, maybe not for everyone. But for him, if he wants to play that way, (he needs to) get some consency about his scoring. It’s no good getting 25 with ramps and the rest of it. It doesn’t help the side at all,” he was quoted Fox Cricket.
Fox wrote that former Australian captain Steve Waugh had ‘questioned whether Konstas was suffering from dissociative identity disorder following his Boxing Day bash.’
“I just hope (his debut) hasn’t messed with his head. He is only 19. I look back to when I was 19 and I didn’t know what I was doing really,” Waugh told SEN last week, as per Fox. “He has taken on a big risk the way he has played and he has almost probably suffered for it already, dropped after a couple of Test matches and didn’t play against Sri Lanka. (He then) goes back to Shield cricket and doesn’t really know what he is doing. I saw the match against Victoria where the first over of a Shield game he tried ramping shots, reverse sweep and charging Scott Boland who is one of the best bowlers in the world. You’ve got to have more respect for the game, the game will bite you pretty quickly if you don’t respect it.
“I’d like to see him play a traditional innings in the next couple of matches and get his head right and get him back in the zone.Story continues below this ad
“I’ve seen him play grade cricket for Sutherland and he is technically very correct and plays traditionally. He has to get back to that because if he keeps playing the way he is, he is not going to be successful,” Waugh urged.
Border’s other concern had been Konstas risking provoking the opposition and fuelling the fire if he didn’t rein in his behaviour, as per Fox.
“There’s a cockiness about the way he plays. I’m all for confidence and letting him do his thing … but that cockiness you’ve got to try and take out of the equation. I would have had a word now, just to say, ‘Mate, as you’re finding out, it’s a slightly different ball game to Under 19s.’
“You want to be confident about your abilities … but that doesn’t mean just saying ridiculous things out in the field, just for the sake of chirping someone.Story continues below this ad
“You’ve got to earn your stripes. Him chirping them, I would feel really aggrieved that; a 19-year-old brat having a crack. They’ll want to bring this guy back down to earth pretty quick.
“This game has a habit of biting you on the ass, so just calm the farm a little bit,” he was quoted Fox.