DIGITAL ISSUE
Sam Konstas is living the dream
The 20-year-old sensation burst onto the international cricket scene in last summer’s Boxing Day Test. He’s since found Test cricket isn’t always ramp shots in front of packed houses and it's uncertain how much of a role he'll play this summer. But Konstas is putting in the work – both mental and physical – to try and keep his dream alive
BY BEN JHOTY
YOU PROBABLY REMEMBER Sam Konstas’ Test debut. It’s hard to forget. The then 19-year-old kid taking on the might of India in the Boxing Day Test, hitting ramp shots off the world’s best bowler and chest-bumping with one of the game’s biggest stars.
It was heady, boy’s own stuff, and for a few days in the post-Christmas haze, Konstas was all anybody could talk about. He really was living his dream.
Konstas smiles, as he does often, when he recalls that breathtaking debut, as he chats to Men’s Health at the National Cricket Centre in Brisbane.
“Oh, I loved it,” he says of the joy of hitting those ramp shots of Jasprit Bumrah and the crowd’s reaction to his audacity. “I was thriving on it, to be honest. I remember even the first two I missed, in my head I was like, Oh this is actually cool. Imagine if I hit one and then I hit a few more. Shout out to all the people who were watching.”
He’s less effusive on his altercation with Indian legend Virat Kohli. “I think in Test cricket it can get heated at times and yeah, it just occurred, nothing too much to say.”
Surely he was nervous playing on such a stage. “I wasn’t nervous,” he says. “I asked Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon that morning when we were warming up, ‘When are the nerves going to kick in?’ They thought I was a bit crazy. I was more excited, to be honest. There were 90,000 people watching. I’ll always remember that moment.”
So will many who watched it, particularly if Konstas does end up having a long career. Right now, he’s still getting used to the fact that he’s playing alongside guys he idolised growing up. It’s easy to forget that just two years ago, Konstas was a student at Sydney’s Cranbrook School. You can picture him staring idly out the window in maths class, that smile – it’s of the same continent-spanning proportions as Daniel Ricciardo’s – hinting at the reverie he might be conjuring in his mind’s eye.
“I watched quite a bit to be honest,” he says of Ashes cricket. “Good memories of Mitchell Starc getting Rory Burns out first ball and it’s quite surreal how I’m playing with him now. I’m playing with my heroes. I’m lucky.”
Dream debuts are sometimes followed by nightmare comedowns, and Konstas’ first overseas outing to the West Indies, qualifies as such. He made just 50 runs in six innings in foreign and searching conditions, as he found out what Test cricket is really all about. Yet despite his struggles, Konstas is upbeat about the tour, framing it as a learning experience, one he might look back on as formative.
“Oh, I think got some great learnings from that tour,” he says. “Obviously it was the first time I played in the Caribbean and the wickets were really tough. Credit to the West Indies bowlers, they bowled really well. But for me it’s just learning from that experience and trying to build from that and get better. Test cricket’s obviously the hardest format that I’ve ever played. Just the grind, the different opponents, the travel and conditions, you’ve got to adapt to so many factors.”
Despite the setbacks he doesn’t plan on shelving his attacking instincts, something he’s shown in Shield games so far this season. “When I bat my best, I’m usually aggressive, so hopefully I keep that up and put pressure back on the bowlers,” he says.
Konstas has taken a break from social media – no easy task for a 20-year-old. He’s also turned to some ‘old-heads’ for guidance. Former Aussie all-rounder Shane Watson, for example, encouraged the young charge to use meditation to help ground himself in the present moment, something that’s at the very heart of a game where a slip in concentration has dramatic consequences.
“I think most of the game’s mental, especially when you get to a certain level,” says Konstas. “Everyone has the capabilities and skills to be a good cricketer, but to take yourself to the next level the mental side is vital. That’s something that I’m still learning and hopefully get better at.”
Konstas will meditate for at least five minutes each morning. “I do it every day, even if it’s a Test match, just to allow me to reset and focus on being in the present moment and not get too fixated about the future.”
He also writes down plans and when he’s out in the middle relies on routines to provide the mental scaffolding that might allow him to parcel out the concentration required to build an innings.
“I’ll say, ‘Where’s the ball’ in my head all the time and I count the balls. I go to the umpire to tell him how many balls are left, even though I know there’s three balls remaining, just to allow me to reset,” he says, a twinkle in his eye. Bet the umpire loves that.
Konstas is also working hard on his fitness, knowing that a body that’s primed to perform can lay the foundation for success. Even so, his personal workout goals are a little different from those the team’s fitness staff give him, which he refers to as “the boring stuff”. “I always like to do arms, I’ve got to get bigger arms,” he says, smiling again, though you suspect he’s deadly serious. Konstas likes to do triceps pulldowns, barbell curls and shoulder and military press. “That’s the beach muscle stuff just to make yourself feel good.”
The boring stuff includes core and leg exercises, like squats, and Konstas credits NSW teammate Sean Abbott for helping him out there. “The boys reckon he’s got the best rig and I agree, so he’s been helping me.”
In terms of cardio, Konstas focuses on sprints, “just to increase my speed and try to get bigger in the gym.”
With his Greek heritage, Konstas is not the most obvious future face of Australian cricket. He got into the game through his older brother and played alongside his twin brother. His dad, though he had no history with the game, used to take them all to the nets to practise, throwing down balls for his sons. The three brothers staged ‘backyard series’ and generally “couldn’t get enough”.
“Being Greek, cricket’s foreign for a lot of people in my community and my grandparents don’t even understand the rules,” says Konstas. “They just see me on the TV. I remember the first time they watched my team they’re like, ‘What’s this?’ So I just had to explain it to them’. Hopefully I can inspire the Greek community. I’m very proud to be Greek.”
He points out point out that ODI and T20 all-rounder Marcus Stoinis and Hobart Hurricanes player Peter Hatzoglou are also Greek. “Maybe once I’m done for Australia I might go play for Mikonos,” he laughs. He’s dreaming again and that’s probably a good thing, both for Konstas and the game he loves.
