Sam Konstas debut is the most extraordinary first game since Greg Chappell’s

If Sam Konstas’ debut was noteworthy merely for him being a teenager, or it being on Boxing Day, or in a massive live series, it would be a big deal. All three puts his first game beyond anything we’ve seen for 50 years.

Forget ham. This Christmas will be all about Sam.

There are no small Test debuts.

But there is a spectrum.

At one end of the chart lies Beau Casson, the spinner who played his lone match for Australia against the West Indies in 2008. It was June, it was overnight back home, and the Frank Worrell Trophy had already been retained. About as off-Broadway as things get for a player receiving a baggy green.

Sam Konstas bats in the nets at the MCG ahead of his Boxing Day debut. Picture: William West/AFP.

Sam Konstas will take his place at the other extreme of the gamut. If it was merely the fact that he is still a teenager, it would be a massive deal.

If it was only the Boxing Day stage that would make it stand out. If he had just been injected deep in a series locked at 1-1 as Australia seeks to win the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the first time in a decade, that would be enormous.

So it is the combination of all these things that makes it the most extraordinary Australian Test debut in at least half a century.

Perhaps the only rival in living memory is that of Greg Chappell 54 years ago. Chappell was already 22 when picked to play in the second Test of the 1970-71 Ashes at Perth, famously posting a ton.

Though the stakes were high given the opposition, it was still relatively early in what was a six-Test series (a seventh Test was added after third Test was washed out). So the jeopardy wasn’t quite at the levels that it will be for Konstas and the other Aussies this week, who cannot lose in Melbourne if they are to win back the trophy this summer.

But where Chappell edges Konstas is the family connection. Greg was of course following in the footsteps of older brother Ian – who had debuted six years earlier, and their grandfather Vic Richardson, who had played for Australia in the 1920s and ‘30s.

That backdrop led Greg to memorably utter after his century that “I hope now people will see me as Greg Chappell rather than Ian’s brother or Victor’s grandson.’’

But other than bloodlines, the Konstas story wants for nothing.

He doesn’t have a famous relative, but his mentor is a former Test captain in Shane Watson. Some of his prodigious feats have matched those of Ricky Ponting. He has also drawn comparisons with the late Phillip Hughes.

Ashton Agar and Pat Cummins’ teen debuts were extraordinary too but both were on foreign soil and less likely to capture the passing interest of casual cricket fans. Will Pucovski’s sole Test four summers ago in Sydney came after years of hype but he was less than a month from his 23rd birthday by the time he got his cap.

Konstas is 19. Bob Holland and Bryce McGain were 38 and 36 respectively when they played at the level for the first time but spinners are meant to mature late.

Then there is the matter of Konstas’ role in the team and how his inclusion defines a shift in strategy. It would be one thing if Konstas was being tucked away in the middle order, or if he was a first change bowler who could be hidden if having a dirty day.

But it’s almost the opposite. The selectors identified that Nathan McSweeney wasn’t working up the top against the unstoppable force of Jasprit Bumrah. They have picked Konstas to fight fire with a flamethrower of his own.

From the opening day of the Sheffield Shield season, when Konstas laid down the gauntlet with a century against South Australia, he has never been far from the headlines given Cameron Green’s back injury had opened up a spot in the top six.

So while it would be a lie to suggest this day has been a long-time coming, it is also the culmination of an extraordinary 11 week build-up.

Once all the prawns have been devoured and the last presents opened on Wednesday, even those who know next to nothing about cricket will have heard of Konstas, so central will he be to the national conversation this Christmas.

Originally published as Sam Konstas debut is the most extraordinary first game since Greg Chappell’s