Jack Edwards would selfishly love to keep Sam Konstas at the NSW Blues for as long as possible, but it feels inevitable that one of the brightest young talents in Australian cricket will be back in the national side after an incredible week with the bat.
Konstas hit scores of 71 and 151 not out for NSW in the Sheffield Shield game in Perth last week and then backed it up with a swashbuckling 149 in a 50-over clash at the same venue.
Runs are the No.1 currency for batters, and Konstas cashed in while the Australian top order crumbled in South Africa.
Still only 21, Konstas is doing all he can to win back his spot at the top of the order that he lost after five Tests for Australia.
But some time out of the spotlight has been just the tonic for the young gun who would have seen plenty of international stars bounce back after getting dropped earlier in their careers.
“It’s definitely been a rollercoaster 12 months for Sam,” Edwards said as the Sydney Sixers launched their season in North Sydney on Monday.
“Just the growth he showed last week in his temperament and the way he went about it (showed that).
“Obviously, he’s always had the skill, but I think just the calmness and clarity that he played with was incredible.
“Two hundreds, scores of 150, and the way he played. You forget that he’s still so young and inexperienced, so it’s very exciting.
“Hopefully for the Blues we can keep him for a while longer, but he’s a fantastic player and it’s great to see the development he’s made in the last 18 months.”
Konstas made his Test debut as a teenager against India and stunned everyone with a knock of 60 where he played with all the confidence in the world.
But that confidence proved his undoing, with the opener unable to get past 25 in his next nine knocks, with a lean run in the West Indies costing him his spot in the side.
The ramp shots earnt the ire of former players, but he’s simplified things this season and is now in contention for the upcoming New Zealand series with Nic Maddinson unlikely to be retained at the top of the order.
“It’s been exceptional the way he batted last week,” Edwards said.
“I got to spend some time with him out in the middle, and I think just the calmness that he’s playing with at the moment and the skill that he’s showcasing is incredible from 18 months ago.
“Spending some time with him in the middle, he just seemed to have that right temperament and wanted to be there for the long haul.
“I think in the past, seeing those rash shots or the scoops at different times, just now he’s out there batting and playing what comes to him.
“He knows his game plan really well and hopefully he can keep piling on the runs. Obviously, he knows how to do it and showed us again last week, so I guess that consistency is what matters next for him.”
Originally published as ‘Been a rollercoaster 12 months for Sam’: Mountain of runs has Sam Konstas in the mix for Test recall