Test great Steve Waugh says Sam Konstas needs more time at Sheffield Shield level
Australian cricket great Steve Waugh fears young star Sam Konstas needs Shield development before returning to the Test arena after his axing.
Test legend Steve Waugh says young star Sam Konstas’ batting struggles mirror his own rocky start, declaring he feels “a little bit sorry” for the breakout batter who bene dropped from the Australian team for the Ashes.
Konstas, 20, has made just 122 runs in six Sheffield Shield innings so far this season, a lean period which has cost him his Test spot.
It leaves him 28th on the run-scorers’ list, behind players including Victorian fast bowler Fergus O’Neill, who has scored 157 runs.
National selection chief, George Bailey, said there had been and would remain significant investment in Konstas, who burst onto the Test scene in incredible fashion last summer against India, and the message was clear as he continues to grow in the spotlight.
“I feel for Sammy, because I feel like at the moment if he farts it’s a headline,” he said.
“There’s a handful of young guys his age playing Shield cricket around the country and they’re all learning. (They’re) all going through he journey to becoming the best
cricketer they can be and Sammy is no different.
“He just happens to be doing it under what seems to be immense scrutiny at the moment.
“We really like him, the investment, he’s been in Boxing Day Tests, sub-continent tours, he’s been on MRF tours, Aussie A tours. We like the skill set there and confident over the long run it’ll continue to build out.
‘”It’s not going to be linear – no one’s passage through their career is linear.
“The message is: keep it simple, score runs and bat for as long and as helpful way as you can for New South Wales.”
After playing the final two Tests last summer, Konstas was overlooked for the World Test Championship final but was then recalled for the three Tests against the West Indies in the middle of the year.
He battled, badly, with two ducks among four single-figure scores as questions piled up about his capacity to deliver against England.
In the hours before Konstas was overlooked, Waugh said he had sympathy for the young batter whose face has been everywhere in pre-series advertisements.
Waugh, who scored more than 10,000 Test runs after a slow start that included single-figure scores in six of his first 10 innings, said Konstas seemed unsure of himself.
“I feel a little bit sorry for Sam Konstas, who’s been in and out of the side a bit,” he said.
“It actually reminds me of myself when I first started playing for Australia. Not fully confident of being in the side and form a bit not quite there.
“He’s probably lacking a bit of confidence, so I don’t think they’ll go for him in the first Test (against England).”
Waugh said Konstas would be best served by a long stint in the Sheffield Shield to develop his batting.
Konstas has only played 25 first-class games.
“At the end of the day, it’s really hard to learn how to play Test cricket while you’re playing Test cricket,” Waugh continued.
“That’s what happened to me for a couple of years. I wasn’t really that finished product.
“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, and then you walk out to play for Australia confident in what you’re doing.
“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.”
