'Never as far away as you think': Sam Konstas tipped to earn back Test spot after plea from Australian coach

It was this time last year that Sam Konstas had just burst onto the scene and become an overnight sensation with his Test debut against India.

Trotting out on Boxing Day in front of 90,000 fans, the teenager announced himself to the world with a remarkable half-century, dispatching Jasprit Bumrah around the MCG.

Fast-forward to this year's same fixture and Konstas has dropped out of the Test arena with no guarantee he will wear the baggy green again any time soon.

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He was left out of the team in Sri Lanka, which has become a horses for courses situation that saw Australia shuffle their batting order in the subcontinent.

Konstas then returned for the tour of the West Indies and was exposed badly in tough conditions but, in fairness, the runs weren't exactly flowing for any of the batters.

After a poor start to the Sheffield Shield campaign and question marks over his ability to withstand what was expected to be a rampant England fast-bowling attack for the Ashes series, the talented youngster was dropped from the Test squad entirely.

His replacement, Jake Weatherald, hasn't fared all that well, managing just 146 runs from his eight innings and almost half of those came with a half-century at the Gabba.

The 31-year-old hasn't cemented himself as a long-term player for Australia yet, but a turn of events that saw Usman Khawaja succumb to a back injury meant the door was finally swung open for Travis Head to make the jump up the batting order and the beloved left-hander now appears to be at least one half of the opening solution moving forward.

Head will likely remain at the top of the order for the next 18 months or two years, with a tour of South Africa and four Tests against New Zealand next summer leading into an away series against India in early-2027 and another Ashes campaign in the UK.

But where does that leave Konstas, who seemingly had the world at his feet and looked destined to be a long-term player at Test level?

Speaking to media on Monday morning, head coach Andrew McDonald was asked about where the Sutherland product fits into the fold moving forward.

His answer should not only give Konstas plenty of optimism, but also act as a reminder of the difficulties that modern-day cricketers face, especially at a young age.

"You're never as far away as you think you may be," McDonald said.

"He's a young player that has been exposed to Test match cricket, he is 20 now and was 19 at the time and he changed the series here 12 months ago.

"We think there's a lot of cricket ahead of him and sometimes the expectations on young players are really unfair. We pump them up and we expect them to maintain performance and we know that performance isn't linear.

"He's gonna have his ups and downs - but he's been able to bounce back, he found some Shield runs and he's playing T20 cricket. He spreads across all three formats and that's the thing with these players - they are getting stretched across all three formats.

"Tell me a player that's been able to do that? We've seen Steve Smith get phased out of T20 international cricket, we've seen Kane Williamson and Joe Root - some of our great players stretching across three formats, it's very difficult to find that balance.

"I think we need to be a little kinder to the challenges they do face."

Konstas still has plenty of flaws in his game, but he is learning on the run with the eyes of the cricket world watching his every move.

Whether it be playing Shield or List A cricket for his state, BBL for the Sydney Thunder or even grade cricket for Sutherland, the 20-year-old is always under the microscope.

He scored a wonderful century for NSW in early December which came almost straight after the selectors looked past him for the Ashes series opener, proving he is up to the task of forcing his way back into their good graces sooner rather than later.

Konstas has amassed 1642 runs at first-class level at an average of 33, which aren't exactly awe-inspiring numbers but are from a rather small sample size, which means a few more knocks like the one he scored against Queensland will bump that average up.

Many in the general public have written Konstas off and are looking for new players to hitch their wagon to, whether it be an experienced campaigner like Matt Renshaw or another prodigy in Campbell Kellaway, who has started to make a name for himself.

But if you ask Australian great and one of the sport's astute minds in Kerry O'Keeffe, there is room for both of the young stars to fit into the Test team in the future.

"I think in two years' time, the opening combo will be [Campbell] Kellaway and [Sam] Konstas," he said on the Fox Cricket broadcast during lunch of the Boxing Day Test.

"This guy is outstanding through the off-side, anything too straight goes through the leg-side. He is a talent, Campbell Kellaway, and Sam's time will come again."

With the likely retirement of Khawaja soon and uncertainty around the make-up of Australia's top-order for the next two years, Konstas and Kellaway bring excitement to the table when the general consensus is the current Test team's era of dominance is slowly waning with an ageing squad set to phase out soon.

If his time does come again as O'Keeffe and many others expect it to, don't be surprised if Konstas makes the most of his opportunity and becomes the player everyone hoped he would be when he started ramping Bumrah on Boxing Day just over 12 months ago.