Sam Konstas: Are you on board with him?

[sr36]

What you have written above is a players technique - don’t complicate it

It's not technique when you've misjudged the line of the ball or you've moved too late. Tendulkar saw it really early, judged the line beautifully and put his foot in the right place to be beautifully balanced and in a great position to play the ball. You can have exactly the same technique, but see it later and don't judge it as well so you'll more often leave a gap between bat and pad, be unbalanced and on the move and not be in as good a position to play the ball.

That's judgement and speed of reaction. It's technique when your base way of playing the ball isn't to put your foot in the place that eliminates that gap or your bat arc makes it harder to get in line with the ball.

 

[western royboy]

It's not technique when you've misjudged the line of the ball or you've moved too late. Tendulkar saw it really early, judged the line beautifully and put his foot in the right place to be beautifully balanced and in a great position to play the ball. You can have exactly the same technique, but see it later and don't judge it as well so you'll more often leave a gap between bat and pad, be unbalanced and on the move and not be in as good a position to play the ball.

That's judgement and speed of reaction. It's technique when your base way of playing the ball isn't to put your foot in the place that eliminates that gap or your bat arc makes it harder to get in line with the ball.

We will have to agree to disagree…

 

[hugecannon]

Realistically he needs 2-3 years of playing consistent shield and county cricket before he should be considered ready for test level, Australia’s need for a new batting saviour - Smith/Khawja near the end, Labuschange out of form, Head hit or miss and Green not consistent/injured - has meant he’s been picked and over hyped way before his time.

I’m not convinced his technique will hold up to opening the batting outside of flat roads, maybe In time he’ll be recast as a middle order batsman.

 

[sr36]

We will have to agree to disagree…

FWIW, I do think the massive amounts of short form they play is an issue. Just not so much in terms of technique but in terms of what goes on upstairs. They make more test match errors in terms of footwork because they have to vary it considerably between the formats - when playing and practicing for T20 they're regularly planting their feet in a different spot than they would for a test match to open up the field and bat swing - so they're not as reliable in terms of getting into a test match more defensive position and are more likely to play at balls they shouldn't in a test match than they used to be.

I think Konstas and Head are the only ones with actually dodgy test techniques. Head counters it with a brilliant eye and just being so confident and decisive with his hands.

 

[The hands of stone]

Still too much bottom hand and an open slicing blade in defence .
Not sure we are doing him or the team any favours at the minute , how long will we persist.

Good eye - yes , talent- yes but that technique and the application won't see consistent test runs.

 

[Run n Spread]

It was one bad test he had. 1 and was hardly on his own.
Everyone needs to chill. He earnt his call up last year with a solid debut.
Recalled after an absence. At least give him the series. Then if he needs to work on his game by all means he is young enough to come back.
Ponting s Waugh Martin were all selected round his age dropped and came back better.
He seems confused at the approach to take.
He had a unconventional yet successful approach boxing day everyone lost their shit so is now confused how to play. Went too defensive this test. And was hesitant.
Let's see how he goes next 2

 

[Richard Cranium]

What you have written above is a players technique - don’t complicate it

You think hand eye coordination and decision making is 'technique'?

Oof, must have been a long 25 years for everyone you've coached...

 

[Black Diamond]

You think hand eye coordination and decision making is 'technique'?

Oof, must have been a long 25 years for everyone you've coached...

There is no fixing a bad eye.

However decision-making correlates very strongly with technique.

If you hold the bat properly and have a correct stance, your footwork follows naturally and so does shot selection. The rest is attitude.

 

[Black Diamond]

All this talk about his technique ignores the elephant in the room.

Currently our two best batsman are Head and Smith.

Neither have great techniques.

What they do have are tremendous hand eye, excellent balance and crucially, the ability to use their strengths to hit balls that aren’t terrible for runs. With Smith it’s his ability to hit just about anything through the leg side. With Head it’s his ability to take the tiniest hint of width and slash it through the off side.

When you watch Konstas he has those traits. I followed Head’s career pretty closely from when he was just playing grade, and there has been question marks on his technique every step of the way. But he’s kept scoring runs each level he’s been exposed to.

The missing piece is can Konstas solve his problems the way Smith and Head did. Head has improved his leg side play to the point where you can’t just target the stumps and get him. He’s now at a point where even though he’s defence is still pretty weak, if he hangs in there long enough he’ll win us the game, because he can punish bowlers whenever they slightly miss their line or length.

We need to give Konstas time to see if he can get to that point. It is so over the top to write him off at 19.

Head has a pretty good technique.

You're falling into the trap of "quick scoring means the player has a bad technique." Same as how people assessed Warner and Gilchrist incorrectly.

 

[Black Diamond]

Steve Smith - freak you can’t sand would never coach it, his hand eye is off the chart

Graeme Smith - horrible grip - freak for the same reasons

Brian Lara - the ultimate freak nothing too shabby about his technique

Border - immensely talented but like SR Waugh learned that to become the best they had to curb aspects of their natural game to become the best bat in the game for a period

What you have identified above is exactly what the jokers in charge think. I’m telling you they are wrong, I told them at the time they were wrong. I’ve had chats at length with some average cricketers who played the odd test and they question whether they would have made it under today’s regime simply because as juniors they were small and not outrageously talented as some.

Talent is overrated.

Even Marnus would not make it today. Went from fifth grade in his mid-late teens to the test team. Next to impossible in just the few short years since he debuted.

 

[iDon]

Who are those players?

Bancroft, Harris, Jewell all making bulk runs in England opening the batting.

 

[apollo_creed]

It was one bad test he had. 1 and was hardly on his own.
Everyone needs to chill. He earnt his call up last year with a solid debut.
Recalled after an absence. At least give him the series. Then if he needs to work on his game by all means he is young enough to come back.
Ponting s Waugh Martin were all selected round his age dropped and came back better.
He seems confused at the approach to take.
He had a unconventional yet successful approach boxing day everyone lost their shit so is now confused how to play. Went too defensive this test. And was hesitant.
Let's see how he goes next 2

One bad test? The only score he has made at test level he was ridiculously lucky.

Not writing him off but this is a NSW media selection as much as anything.

 

[DaRick]

I honestly think that he should just play the way he did against India.

It will look awful when it doesn't come off, but it does complement Khawaja's approach better, and it works reasonably well for Crawley and Duckett (both of whom have flawed techniques).

 

[Around the Wicket]

I honestly think that he should just play the way he did against India.

It will look awful when it doesn't come off, but it does complement Khawaja's approach better, and it works reasonably well for Crawley and Duckett (both of whom have flawed techniques).

England are happy to carry Crawley averaging 30.. Australia fans and selectors won't allow that

 

[Run n Spread]

One bad test? The only score he has made at test level he was ridiculously lucky.

Not writing him off but this is a NSW media selection as much as anything.

Yes 1 bad test.
Debut 60 and 8. (Got a good one early). A very good test. Rested momentum back from Bummerah and changed the momentum of the series.
Test 2 a pair of 20s. Can happen as an opener and the 2nd innings was an overall strategy of going after quick runs in a low chase. Slightly below par but not horrific.
Test 3 A shocker.

So we have a 19 yo who earnt a call up.who in his 3rd test had a shocker.
Give him 2 more see how he goes in 4 or so more innings and assess than

 

[DaRick]

England are happy to carry Crawley averaging 30.. Australia fans and selectors won't allow that

We put up with Warner averaging in the low-mid 30s for several years because there were no obvious replacements.

 

[Around the Wicket]

We put up with Warner averaging in the low-mid 30s for several years because there were no obvious replacements.

yea but thats with a overall average ranging from 45-50... Australian fans will be all over him averaging in the 20's or low 30's lol

 

[DaRick]

yea but thats with a overall average ranging from 45-50... Australian fans will be all over him averaging in the 20's or low 30's lol

I think they'd give Konstas a bit more rope because of his age.

Besides, I doubt the selectors take the fans all that seriously - if they did, Mitch Marsh would have played far fewer Tests.

 

[Soggy2112]

We put up with Warner averaging in the low-mid 30s for several years because there were no obvious replacements.

Averaging 35 on the current decks we prepare is worth 40-45 on more traditional Australian pitches.

 

[PhatBoy]

England are happy to carry Crawley averaging 30.. Australia fans and selectors won't allow that

He’s actually averaged closer to 40 for the better part of 3 years, which has helped people accept his role in that side

 

[iDon]

England are happy to carry Crawley averaging 30.. Australia fans and selectors won't allow that

And nor should we settle for that.

 

[Richard Pryor]

We put up with Warner averaging in the low-mid 30s for several years because there were no obvious replacements.

Casual fans are all about that sweet career average though. Score a triple ton in your first Test and the Australian setup will carry you in the Test team for at least a decade even if you never pass 50 again.

 

[Richard Pryor]

He’s actually averaged closer to 40 for the better part of 3 years, which has helped people accept his role in that side

Think opening in Test cricket is also generally underrated as a specialist role and should grant a leeway of at least five in the average when comparing to middle order batsmen to account for the additional pressure of seeing off the new ball.

 

[Westend]

stick with him

 

[iDon]

stick with him

Cut our loses.