‘Nothing’s really changed’: Clear Konstas message as reasons for Aussie contract calls revealed

Sam Konstas was among a cohort of cricketers delivered the rudest of April Fools’ Day jokes on Wednesday but Australian selector George Bailey remains confident the New South Welshman has a future at the highest level.

Just over 15 months after causing a sensation on debut in the Boxing Day Test against India, the 20-year-old was among the five Australians axed from the national contract list, a group that does not include the retired Usman Khawaja.

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Australian selectors had hoped Konstas, who debuted with distinction as an opening partner to Khawaja at the MCG in December, 2026, would consolidate his spot but he has fallen from favour after a disappointing West Indies tour.

But Bailey said the 20-year -old remained firmly in the thinking of national selectors with a view to the future and believes the right-hander demonstrated enough promise in the latter stages of the Sheffield Shield season to show he is improving.

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“Nothing’s really changed in terms of the fact of the matter that he’s on a journey. Is he highly talented? Yes. Is he on a journey to become a complete and better player? Yes, as all players are,” Bailey said.

“I thought we saw some promising signs towards the back end (of the season). I think he was consistently getting starts. I think at the start of the season there was a lot of chopping and changing around his technique and methods at different times. “But it looked like that was settling and he was starting to find his feet in terms of what he wanted to knuckle down and commit to and what was working for him. So I think we can take some positives out of the fact he was getting consistent starts across those Shield games.

“Would he have liked to have gone on and scored some big runs out of that? No doubt, once you’ve done the hard work and got those starts, but, you know, he remains a player that we’re incredibly interested in.”

An Australia A team is scheduled to tour India in coming months, with Konstas firmly in the frame to add to his experience.

While Jake Weatherald has earned a contract and is the incumbent opener, that does not necessarily mean he is a guaranteed starter against Bangladesh in August, with Bailey noting England had exposed a flaw in his technique during the summer.

Weatherald is heading to England for a County cricket stint and Bailey said aspirants including Konstas and Matt Renshaw will have a chance to press their claims in a month-long camp in Brisbane preceding the Top End Tour against Bangladesh.

“It’s an indication (but) it’s not a guarantee. He’s the incumbent in that role. He’s had a few good years of really consistent first class cricket as well,” Bailey said.

“(We’re) not shying away from (the fact) I think there was a real plan and a target from England around some of the technical aspects of his game, but we think he can play and I think he’s got a really good opportunity now that he’s going to go to Leicester for a little bit.

“He’s had a good period of time bouncing out of that Ashes series (and) he went straight to work on how we could address some of those and hopefully fine tune his game. I think we’ve seen at his best that it can at that level. So it’s just about maybe tinkering with a couple of things and just being able to replicate that for longer periods and hopefully across a range of conditions.”

In a wide ranging press conference following the announcement of the 21 players contracted by Cricket Australia for the next year, Bailey touched on several topics including the fitness of Cameron Green and Nathan Lyon.

THE GREEN FLARE UP

A day after Australian coach Andrew McDonald said Green will be backed to deliver on his considerable promise, Bailey provided an update on the Western Australian’s health after a flare up in India over the weekend.

Questions were raised when the highly-paid all-rounder was unable to bowl for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL but the Australian selection chair said the franchise was aware he had an issue before travelling to India.

“I don’t think he’s picked it up. (There was a) routine scan on the back of his surgery, and then building up throughout the summer, he has regular check ins and I just think one of those check ins flagged that there was a little bit of something going on. So it was just a small period of de-load, I think, for him,” he said.

“I think that was, to be honest, blown out of proportion a little bit on the back of a one-liner from a captain. I’m pretty sure KKR were very aware of how Cam was going once he got over there, and also aware that he’ll be back at the bowling crease reasonably soon.”

A REALITY CHECK FOR LYON

The severe hamstring injury which cut short Nathan Lyon’s Ashes campaign is healing but Bailey conceded it is possible the champion off-spinner will need to be managed through the heavy load next summer.

“I don’t think concern is the word I’d use but there’s a sense of realism, I guess, that with a pretty significant hamstring tendon injury to a 38-year-old, that probably there’s a higher degree or sense of realism that it may not ever get back to the upper echelon of where you need it to,” he said.

“What does that look like? It may mean there’s not necessarily the capacity to play big blocks of games and you may have to look at that. So I think (we’ve) just been a little bit aware that that’s a possibility.

“But having said all that, as it stands at the moment, (this is) a really good block for him to get it as strong and to get back to bowling as well as he can. He’s got a great opportunity for that and it’s tracking well at the moment.”

While Bailey expressed concern about the lack of opportunities being offered to spin bowlers in domestic cricket, he said there was good reason for Todd Murphy and Matt Kuhnemann to feature among the 21 contracted players.

“I think we are just trying to maintain that connection, particularly with Todd, who was really, really close to playing in Sydney. We like the skill set that he brings,” he said.

“I mean, you would expect that (with) a number of those (Tests in) India, we know we’re going to need the spin depth. In England, we know we’re going to need some spin depth.

“I’m not entirely sure that will be applicable for South Africa, and then the Top End is probably a little bit of an unknown. You can get some quite flat and benign wickets there.”

HOPE REMAINS FOR BANISHED QUICKS

Jhye Richardson has gone from making a fairytale return from a serious injury on Boxing Day to losing his spot as a contracted quick alongside fellow Western Australian Lance Morris.

But the message from Bailey to the fast bowlers and others on the fringe of selection including South Australia’s Sheffield Shield winning skipper Nathan McSweeney, Konstas and Renshaw is to make sure your game is in order over the next year.

With the amount of cricket Australia has to play, he said that opportunities are certain to pop up, noting that an additional ten players received a contract over the past year when called on for national honours.

“I think Jhye, (and) I’d throw Lance into this conversation as well, we thought it was really important to make sure that we supported them through the last couple of years as they were working through their injuries. Both remain hopefully important players for us,” he said.

“I think Jhye did an incredible job to get back to play that Test. We probably saw that he could function in a team with four quicks (but he) still has got a little bit of work to do, I think, just to get back to the top-end speed and that intensity of being able to be in an attack with three quicks.

“But hopefully that’ll build over time. And as I said, both he and Lance still in the mix. I think when you look ahead at that schedule over the next 12 to 18 months, it’s incredibly busy, and we know we’re going to have to utilise some depth outside our contracted list.”