But if the 19-year-old were to be picked for the opening Test against India, he would be an unprecedented selection in modern Australian cricket.
Ponting achieved the feat as an 18-year-old in March 1993 but he did not play Test cricket until just prior to his 21st birthday in December 1995. Ponting’s accumulated experience by the time he was picked to play Test cricket makes him look like a veteran compared to Konstas. He had played 42 first-class matches and scored 12 first-class centuries, averaging 51.23. He had toured with Australia and played six ODIs in 1995 in New Zealand and the Caribbean. He had also played for Australia A in front of ODI-type crowds in the often-recalled 1994-95 summer.
Konstas has only played three of his six first-class matches on Test grounds and is yet to reach 50 at a Test venue. He doesn’t yet have 500 first-class runs. If Alex Carey had held a very straightforward edge that Konstas offered on 0 in the second innings against South Australia, he might not even have 400.
“I’m not sure. That’s a very good question, though,” he said. “Yes, he was made to wait. So whether that made him or he was already made anyway, because he was scoring multiple hundreds across the course of that journey between him not being selected and then finally selected, I think at around 21.
“But Sam, I do see a lot of that skill level and that poise at the crease, shots on both sides of the wicket, in front of the wicket, behind the wicket. I think he’s got what it takes. And again, Ricky was trying to break into a super Australian side at that moment with probably no gaps. But there is a gap in the Australian team in the position Sam bats in at the moment.”
Shipperd’s opinion should carry weight. But it is worth noting that Australia’s team in 1993 was not quite as settled or as strong as suggested.
Who should Australia select to open vs India?
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Mark Waugh, then 27, was dropped in March of 1993 after averaging just 33.21 across his first 21 Tests. The Waugh twins turned 28 prior to the first Ashes Test in June 1993, with Steve averaging 36.27 at the time after 52 Tests. But both were selected ahead of Martyn in England while Langer and the prodigy Ponting did not even make the tour.
Further opportunities came in Australia’s middle order following the retirement of Allan Border in 1994. Michael Bevan, then 24, and Greg Blewett, 23, both debuted before Ponting who was then dropped and recalled four times between 1995 and 1999 and did not settle at No.3 until 2001, just before he turned 26.
Australia blooded two young openers in 1993-94 in Michael Slater, then 23, and Matthew Hayden, 22, but both had a lot more experience than Konstas.
The closest comparison to Konstas’ first-class inexperience is, somewhat neatly, the man who Australia are trying to replace in Warner.
But even Warner had piled up 960 runs in 11 first-class matches including a double-century, two other centuries and a 99, dispelling any myths about him being purely a T20 slogger. Warner was also 25 when he made his Test debut and had played ten ODIs for Australia and 29 T20Is, including two T20 World Cups.
The trope about Smith being picked without many first-class runs behind him is also a misnomer. He had made four Shield centuries in a single season and scored 1012 first-class runs at 56.22. Like Warner, he had also debuted in ODI and T20I cricket before his Test debut.
Good judges are saying that Konstas is the equal of all these players despite a tiny sample size. He could well swell his record against India A and make his case for selection almost irrefutable.
But there is a player who has quietly exited from view as a possible option to open against India whose career arc, so far, does provide a salutary lesson about the dangers of promoting a player too soon.
Renshaw is now 28 and his Test career has been a rollercoaster ride in the mould of Hayden’s first seven years, after the selection initially appeared a success as he averaged 53.22 in his first six Tests. He was Australia’s back-up batter in their last two Test series but seems right now to be well outside the top four options to fill the current vacancy.
Selecting is not an exact science, but there is clear evidence that more data is better than less. Konstas could well be the real deal. However, it would be an unprecedented gamble if he were to be picked so soon.
Alex Malcolm is an associate editor at ESPNcricinfo
