Former Australian opener David Warner throws support behind Sam Konstas for Ashes spot
The race to bat alongside Usman Khawaja in next month’s Ashes is heating up, but his former partner fears selectors could be looking too short term.
Former Australian opener David Warner fears selectors are picking a “short-term fix” if they overlook Sam Konstas in the first Ashes Test.
Konstas, 20, is the incumbent Test opener but is increasingly likely to lose his spot at the top after Marnus Labuschagne’s blistering start to the domestic season.
Labuschagne was dropped after opening alongside Usman Khawaja in the World Test Championship but has hit three centuries in four innings for Queensland.
Warner is still encouraging selectors to persist with Konstas and says Australia is yet to see the young batter at his best.
“He scored that hundred in the Australian A series (in India last month). He batted outstanding there,” Warner said.
“I don’t think we’ve seen exactly what we know Sam Konstas can do.
“Last year, he probably got overwhelmed by the occasion and we saw some very ‘highlight’ cricket.
“I’ve seen him build innings, I’ve seen him play some fantastic innings and I’d like to see him go back to just doing that.
“(England) don’t have a Jasprit Bumrah, so he doesn’t have to worry about that. They’ve got some fast bowlers, but he can tackle that.
“I’d like (selectors) to stick with Sam and give him a crack because at the end of the day, I don’t know if it’s a short-term fix if they try and find someone else.
“They were mentioning Mitch Marsh and Josh Inglis, but again there’s no reason why Sam Konstas can’t do that role.”
Test spinner Nathan Lyon, who captained NSW in the opening Sheffield Shield match in which Konstas made scores of four and 14, said those scores shouldn’t be held against him, given the state of the bowler-friendly wicket he encountered at the WACA.
“I wouldn’t look too much into that,” he said on Monday.
“It was a very naughty wicket. It was wet, some big divots, quite challenging, even though I got 40 runs on it.
“There’s three more games to play out before the Test side gets picked.”
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