'Thrown the rule book out the window': Adam Gilchrist believes new selection policy is backing Sam Konstas' approach
Adam Gilchrist believes Sam Konstas is still "in the frame" for selection ahead of the World Test Championship final despite again losing his wicket in rash fashion in the Sheffield Shield on Tuesday, explaining the selection panel has "thrown the rule book out the window".
But the legendary wicketkeeper-batter admitted the 19-year-old Test rookie may have to rein in his exuberance with the blade if his slide continues, an opinion that was shared by former Test opener Phil Jaques.
On day one of NSW's clash with Victoria at the SCG, Konstas lost his wicket for 10 in the third over when he tried unsuccessfully to smack a Scott Boland ball to the boundary with a slog sweep.
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By the time his attempted shot was complete, both of his feet were outside off stump, all three stumps were exposed, and his leg stump had been rattled.
If cricket had a hall of fame for ugly dismissals, this would have immediately taken its rightful place.
On the second ball of Konstas' innings, the teen tyro had sent a Boland delivery for four over the slips with a lap shot.
Sam Konstas trudges off on Tuesday in the Sheffield Shield. Getty
To the following ball he danced down the wicket to Boland and cracked him for four past mid-off.
And to the fourth ball he attempted another lap shot, only to be rapped on his back leg.
He survived an lbw shout, but would only face another three balls before being sent on his way.
Konstas has been viewed for years as a batting prodigy potentially awaiting a long and prolific career in Test cricket, but has also developed a reputation in more recent times as a dasher who does not place a high price on his wicket.
"That's the way he is going about it, obviously," Gilchrist said of the young opener's flashy and aggressive approach.
Sam Konstas is bowled by Scott Boland. Getty
"Time will tell whether it stands up [and] whether that is going to be happening at Lord's in a few months' time [in June's World Test Championship final against South Africa].
"It's a selection panel that has thrown the rule book out the window; they get their ideas and they go with them. So I am sure he will still be in the frame.
"... It's up to [Konstas] to work out if he is not getting results, then not getting picked, whether he changes that [his brash style].
"At the moment, it's an exciting journey."
Konstas will get another shot in NSW's second innings of the ongoing Sheffield Shield match against Victoria, before featuring in another two Shield games as well as a third if NSW reaches the final.
The St George product will then likely head to England to play county cricket in his push to be recalled to the Australian XI for the World Test Championship final.
Konstas plays through the off-side during the 2024-25 Boxing Day Test. Getty
"I think we have moved on from saying it has got to be done a certain way," Gilchrist said.
"It's a new age ... It's created interest. Everyone is talking about it. The amount of people on the back of this summer that said 'I don't normally get into cricket, let alone Test cricket' that were interested ... It has got to be good for the game."
Gilchrist recalled Konstas' whirlwind innings on his Test debut in which he sent Indian paceman Jasprit Bumrah, one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time, to the boundary numerous times with his beloved lap shot.
The enigmatic right-hander struck 60 from 65 balls on the first morning of the recent Boxing Day Test, then registered scores of 8, 23 and 22 over the remainder of the Border-Gavaskar series.
Konstas pictured during a fielding drill in Sri Lanka last month. Getty
He was then dropped in Sri Lanka last month, making way as selectors budged Travis Head to the top of the order and slotted Josh Inglis into the middle order.
"I can't remember [something like] what he did on Boxing Day morning, captivating the entire world of cricket that much since Shane Warne was around, pulling off magical manoeuvres like that," Gilchrist said.
"It has got everyone talking."
Jaques, the former Test and NSW opener, was at a loss during Tuesday's Shield broadcast.
"He had a fair bit of success batting pretty conventionally," Jaques said.
"I get it when there is a world-class bowler seaming it around [taking a riskier approach], and we have one here [in Boland]."
