Can Sam Konstas have the same impact on Test cricket Nick Kyrgios has had for tennis?

With predictions he could be as polarising as Nick Kyrgios and David Warner, Sam Konstas is the talk of the sporting world. And, ROBERT CRADDOCK writes, that’s exactly what cricket needs.

The question has changed from where cricket will take Sam Konstas to where Sam Konstas will take cricket.

Konstas’s father, Jim, was interviewed by Cricket Australia chairman Mike Baird at the MCG on day three of the Boxing Day Test and told how his son met him early in the day, passed his laundry under the table to his mum, then joined Pat Cummins for breakfast.

In some ways it summed up the two worlds that Konstas will live in – the family world which has been so nourishing for him and the madhouse sports scene where he has become an instant celebrity.

Jim told how his son’s passion for cricket was so great as a youngster that he would tickle Jim’s toes in bed early in the morning to rouse him for a net session at Hurstville Oval.

Even if this Test bubble goes pop, Konstas has made Australian cricket think about the world that may lie ahead when people of his era get to have their say.

Sam Konstas had the crowd in the palm of his hand.

Kyrgios is one of the stars who has helped bring a new, younger audience to tennis.

Konstas admitted himself after his audacious first day innings of 60 off 65 balls at the MCG that two decades ago the mantra for him would have been a lot simpler — play straight, watch the ball, hang in there.

But that is not how children of his generation think or want to play the game. They want to dance on the high wire and if they fall, well, they fall.

Andrew Condon, Sydney-based managing director of the global sports communication and digital insight firm Gemba said on LinkedIn that Konstas was the new face cricket needed but like trailblazers before him he would not please everyone.

“Sam Konstas may eventually become as polarising as David Warner and Nick Kyrgios,’’ Condon wrote.

“Many traditionalists won’t like the ‘way he goes about it’; but his confidence, youthful exuberance and sheer enjoyment of the moment is what makes him refreshing, and like Kyrgios is to tennis, he is exactly what Test cricket needs to remain relevant.

“I for one am on board, for the crowd interaction, for the hundred in a session and the clean bowled playing a ridiculous shot in the third over after being sent in on a green top!’’

It’s been said for years that an ageing Australian team needs a new poster boy and Konstas did not have to wait long to fill that role – Melbourne’s Herald Sun had a Konstas poster the day after his Boxing Day deeds.

In the field on day three he remained a boisterous figure, encouraging the crowd to clap and generally smiling his way through the day.

It will be interesting to see how Konstas bats in the future for his outrageous shot selection on day one is considered by most experts to be unsustainable.

Does he do it selectively? Does he go down swinging?

Former England batsman Michael Vaughan likes the contrast Konstas makes to the batsmen around him in the Australian side.

“You have three senior batsmen around him playing the traditional way and he is the firecracker and that is perfect,’’ Vaughan said. “Sometimes you look at the England top order and three of the top four are trying to play that way and it is very risky.

“It is exciting for Australia but with the smooth there will be the rough as well. The key for Australian supporters is not to be overreactive.’’

Originally published as Can Sam Konstas have the same impact on Test cricket Nick Kyrgios has had for tennis?