Daniel Cherny: Why Konstas’ omission was Australia’s best choice, but not the easiest

Sam Konstas’ dropping in Sri Lanka went against the public wishes of former Australian captains and plenty of fans, but that doesn’t mean it was the wrong decision, writes Daniel Cherny.

Cricket needs figures like Sam Konstas, but it needs a competitive and thriving Test landscape even more.

As administrators ponder whether to introduce a second tier into the format, further separating the haves from the have-nots, Australian selectors have made a move that while unpopular is virtuous in the sense that it is extremely respectful of their opponents.

No, this is not the Ashes, and it’s not India either. And there is no relevance to the World Test Championship final either, given the Aussies have already qualified.

So it would have been very easy for selectors to back boy wonder Konstas to start this two-Test series in Sri Lanka. It would have been in line with the publicly-voiced wishes of former Australian captains Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke, and doubtless have been welcomed by Channel 7 given Konstas’ Test innings have rapidly become appointment viewing.

Konstas was omitted for the first Test in Galle. Picture: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

Sticking with a highly promising and uber-marketable teenager would have been the path of least resistance.

But it was also never the plan, and ultimately Australian selectors have deferred to the format’s primacy by not bending to the momentum of Konstas-mania.

As he showed in his hour-long firestorm, on the first morning at Galle International Stadium, Travis Head has established a reputation as a disruptive and destructive force when opening the batting in Tests on Asian soil.

His record down the order in these conditions is poor, so poor in fact that he was dropped for the first Test of the series against India two years ago.

Yes, in theory he is an improved player overall who would do better at No. 5 or No. 6 if given another chance there on the subcontinent. But to make such a decision, selectors would have been going on a hunch. To borrow a phrase from former Test opener Ed Cowan, it would have been a guess.

Once Head had been given the opening spot, the question was who would replace him in the middle.

Travis Head made his opening opportunity count. Picture: Ishara S. KODIKARA / AFP

Konstas is many things, but he is not a No. 5. Josh Inglis on the other hand, had been earmarked for such a role for months.

The calls for Konstas to be picked were grounded in the idea that it would be ideal to have a look at him in these conditions.

But that would have been to undermine the status of each Test and series in isolation. When he fronted Australian media for an impromptu press conference after the toss in Galle on Wednesday, selector Tony Dodemaide rightly stressed that this was not a development tour.

Australia hasn’t won a Test series in Sri Lanka since 2011, which itself is one of just two series victories for the Aussie men in Asia in the last 18 years.

Moreover, upon clinching the Border-Gavaskar Trophy early in January, Cricket Australia trumpeted the fact that the Aussies now held every available bilateral Test trophy (as well as the one-day World Cup and World Test Championship crowns).

Konstas will get his chance on this stage soon. Picture: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

There are plenty of other ways to foster young talent without jeopardising selection integrity. Konstas can learn plenty in the dusty Galle nets to help give him the best chance when he does eventually play a Test in Asia.

But this is not a meaningless white-ball match or an A tour. When it comes to Test cricket, the now cannot be placed in jeopardy in the name of the future.

In 2017, Australia entered the tour of Bangladesh already with an eye to the next tour of India. That looked pretty silly when the Tigers pulled off an upset in Dhaka.

If you start blooding kids just for the sake of it against opponents like Sri Lanka, the strength of Test cricket around the world very quickly erodes.

Just as they were applauded for blooding Konstas on Boxing Day, selectors deserve credit for sticking to their guns here.

Originally published as Daniel Cherny: Why Konstas’ omission was Australia’s best choice, but not the easiest