WI vs AUS | Konstas will learn to play with what he's got, urges patience-seeking McDonald
Australian head coach Andrew McDonald has requested "time and patience" with Sam Konstas after the opener struggled on his Test comeback against West Indies. McDonald stated that Konstas is learning on the job and has technical deficiencies but believes the youngster will come good eventually.
Australia kicked off the new World Test Championship cycle with a 159-run win in Barbados against the West Indies, the result an unfair reflection of how proceedings panned out under the Caribbean sun. The Men from Down Under conceded a 10-run first-innings lead and were left reeling at 59/4 in the second innings, before the middle-order came to their rescue and set the hosts an unassailable target of 311. Notably, in what was their first outing since 2019 without the services of both Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne, a new-look Australian top-order was left reeling at 22/3 on the opening day too enroute to being bowled out for 180.
With David Warner also retiring last year and Usman Khawaja in the twilight of his career, the team is in a period of transition and has already handed five debuts over the last eight months. Sam Konstas became one of them against India at last year's Boxing Day Test as a reward for back-to-back tons in the Shield, and immediately announced his arrival with a raving 60 by taking on the world's top ranked bowler Jasprit Bumrah. Even though he failed to make it to the ensuing Test tour to Sri Lanka where Travis Head partnered Khawaja up-top, as well as the World Test Championship final against South Africa that saw Labuschagne promoted to open, Konstas was called back to the set-up with an eye on the Ashes later in the year. However, the 19-year-old endured a horrid outing, scoring eight runs in the match despite being dropped twice in the first innings and facing 38-balls in the second innings.
"The players are the harshest critics really when all is said and done. We've had some conversations around potentially if you're in that situation again what does that look like and that's what experience is. It's learning from previous events and trying to implement a way through that.
"It felt like he was stuck at times and he was over-aggressive and then underplayed. It's really that balance and tempo. He's got that there and that's a step up to Test cricket. He's got a really good partner down the other end [in Usman Khawaja] that over time, I think, will play out. That's all we ask for - a bit of patience and time with a young player coming into Test cricket," head coach Andrew McDonald told reporters after the Test.
While the scores are no immediate cause for concern, the fact that Konstas was outdone by induckers from Shamar Joseph on both occassions might prove to be significant for at least the ongoing series. Nevertheless, McDonald remains unfettered, stating the Bridgetown surface made every batter earn their money.
"I think on that type of surface [in Barbados] it's an issue for everyone. He's been on the record around working on his technique in the winter and some small adjustments and how they play out in training versus under extreme pressure is always a different sort of pattern. He knows his deficiencies but, from a batting perspective, I encourage all players to learn to play with their deficiencies. I don't think there's such a thing as a perfect technique. If that's what you're looking for then I think you're looking in the wrong place," McDonald emphasised.
Konstas has played 18 first class games so far and while a career strike rate of 52.25 looks par for the course, the youngster has shown an affliction for taking the game by its head against the lethal new ball. In a Shield game last year, Konstas tried to reverse scoop Scott Boland twice in the first over one of which came off, but was bowled the very next over when trying to sweep the Aussie international.
"He'll learn to play with what he's got. We're a team that encourages run-scoring. Did he lose his intent at certain times in that innings? Was he looking at his defensive layers rather than potentially putting some pressure back on? I think that's really the balance he needs to strike. I think he's good enough. It'll just take some time for him to adapt," McDonald concluded.
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