Australian coach Andrew McDonald has said that the team hierarchy will afford teenage opening batter Sam Konstas “patience and time” after a difficult opening Test against the West Indies in Barbados.
Led by Josh Hazlewood’s five-wicket haul in the fourth innings of the match, Australia’s bowlers dominated in a 159-run victory to take a 1-0 series lead in the nation’s first Test tour of the Caribbean since 2015.
But as Australia’s top order batters struggled on a pitch with inconsistent bounce and sideways movement with the new ball, and none more so than Konstas, who fell for 3 and 5.
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In just the third Test of his fledgling career, the 19-year-old right hander was troubled on either edge of his bat by Shamar Joseph, who continued his trend of tormenting Australia with nine wickets for the match after his match-winning heroics with the pink ball at the Gabba last January.
Konstas was trapped lbw by a nip-backer in the first innings before Joseph got him again in similar fashion, playing onto his own stumps after a 38-ball stay, that included twice being dropped behind the wicket after Joseph found his outside edge, in the evening session on day two.
Konstas looked devoid of the confidence he displayed against Jasprit Bumrah on debut on Boxing Day during his unforgettable first morning half-century.
He at first tried to play like a more traditional Test opener, but as he struggled he attempted to walk down the pitch and play expansive strokes through the off side, albeit to no avail.
TWO DROPPED CATCHES gives Konstas life | 00:33
In a pre-series interview with News Corp, Konstas revealed his batting coach batting coach Tahmid Islam recommended he remove the highlights of his blistering 107 off 97 balls for the Prime Minister’s XI against India prior to his Test debut.
The pink ball affair in Canberra became a 46-over-a-side one-day contest due to rain, and it is apparent that his coach wants him to focus more on the technically sound game that reaped centuries in both innings against Sheffield Shield champions South Australia in October rather than the swashbuckling theatrics that have made him a household name.
It is completely understandable that a player still in their teens is still trying to figure out their own game, and McDonald believes Konstas simply needs the time at the top level to find his feet.
“The players are the harshest critics really when all is said and done,” McDonald told reporters the day after Australia’s 159-run victory.
“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 [he] 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.”
It has been a tale as old Test cricket itself that players find the going tougher once they become more well-known at the highest level.
The spotlight is greater and so too is the opposition scrutiny on batter’s techniques as bowlers and coaches searches for chinks in a player’s armour.
The West Indian quicks said so much themselves that they did their homework on Konstas during his two appearances against India and found a susceptibility against the delivery that darts back in at the stumps from outside off.
Bumrah knocked him over that way with a cracker in the second innings in Melbourne, while off broadway outings in state cricket and in Under 19 national colours showed it to be a trend.
But successful top order batters at Test level are great problem solvers, and, barring injury or an unlikely axing despite Steve Smith’s impending return, Konstas will have two more Tests in the Caribbean to show he can overcome those issues and provide Australia show much-needed batting stability heading into a home Ashes series.
“I think on that type of surface [in Barbados] it’s an issue for everyone,” McDonald said of the seaming deliveries.
“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.
“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.”
Konstas return to the line-up after sitting on the sidelines during the tour of Sri Lanka and the World Test Championship final loss to South Africa at Lords stood in contrast to fellow recent addition Beau Webster.
The towering Tasmanian cracked a crucial half-century in the second innings of the first Test when Australia was under the pump, walking to the crease at 4/65 with Australia leading by just 10 runs.
He proved to be a solid partner for aggressive pair Travis Head and Alex Carey, who also both made fifties.
It is the third time in five Tests at Webster has raised the bat, doing so on debut against India at the SCG and in the first innings of the WTC final.
Australia’s number six came into the side off the back of several dominant Sheffield Shield seasons, and the 31-year-old’s wealth of experience at first-class level has made him look far more assured than some of his younger teammates like Konstas.
McDonald has been impressed by Webster, but insisted there is no perfect formula to selecting batters for Australia’s top six.
“We’re always going to have varying degrees of experience within that order and we like to have a balance of that,” McDonald said.
“In one basket, you’ve got Beau Webster, who’s played a lot of first-class cricket, and you say that’s the way to go. And then, in the other one, you’ve got Sam Konstas and Cameron Green, who learn on the job.
“I don’t think there’s any perfect lead-in to Test cricket and I don’t think we should look for that.
“But what I will say around [Webster] is that he knows his game.
“He’s enjoying the problems at hand and he’s solving them with great intent and temperament. At times he looks technically compromised and we saw that at Lord’s.
“He’s going to be challenged with that, but he’s a run-scorer. He’s made an art of it.”