‘No one to hold your hand out there’: Steve Smith offers blunt advice as Sam Konstas debate continues

Steve Smith has offered some blunt advice for young gun Sam Konstas, admitting that it will be up to the talented opener to “figure it out for yourself” this summer.

The 20-year-old has become one of the most talked-about players in the country after his blistering debut last summer against India and subsequent mixed form.

Konstas was left out of the Test team for both games against Sri Lanka, before earning a recall in tough conditions against the West Indies where most batters struggled.

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Since that horror series, Konstas has gone on to score a century for Australia A before battling in the early stages of the domestic campaign for NSW.

Sam Konstas Getty

The pressure is now mounting on Konstas to retain his spot, with the recent form of Marnus Labuschagne and Jake Weatherald front of mind for selectors.

A lot of the criticism centred around Konstas is his attacking style, with audacious ramp shots becoming the norm – even in the longer formats – which often lead to dismissals.

Asked whether he had been watching from afar or offering advice, Smith said that he was always open to speak with Konstas or any other player in the Aussie set-up.

“My door is always open, my phone is always on – whenever he wants to chat batting, I love talking batting and I’m happy to help wherever I can,” Smith said.

“He is obviously going through a bit of a period right now where he’s trying to figure out how he wants to play and if he wants any help with that, my phone is always on. 

Sam Konstas AP

“I haven’t been around for the last little bit, but I assume he’s talking to different people. I think at times, you have to let these young players figure it out for themselves.

“I think back to when I was young, I had to figure it out and there were people I could speak to – but ultimately, you’re the one out in the middle playing.

“He’s so young, he’s got plenty of time to figure out how he wants to go.

“From what I’ve seen, he has got so much time as a batter when he’s facing fast bowling and that’s something you can’t really teach. There’s obviously a few things for him to work on, but he’s a bright talent as we have seen and he’s got a bright future.”

Konstas has returned scores of 4, 14, 0 and 53 across his four Shield innings, while his one-day form has seen him score 40 and 20 in his two matches thus far.

When asked whether it would be wise for selectors to allow Konstas to develop his game away from the limelight of an Ashes series, Smith conceded it could go either way but explained that the Sutherland product is still learning on the job.

Sam Konstas Getty

“There’s positives in every way you look at it,” he said.

“If he’s playing Shield cricket, he’s able to play four-day cricket a bit more and he’s very young in playing the longer form of the game and finding his style. It’s tricky to do when you’re at the top level and playing against quality attacks like England.

“He’s got to figure out how he wants to play, he’s the one out there in the middle and he can take all the advice he wants … but there’s no one to hold your hand out there.

“You’ve got to figure it out yourself and whether that’s for Australia or NSW, that’s not my decision, but he’s got a bright future no matter what happens.

“We’ve got to remember this kid is really young, he hasn’t even played a lot of four-day cricket let alone Test cricket. He’s still learning and he is gonna get better and better, the more that he experiences games whether it be for NSW or Australia.”

While the excitement machine is struggling to find consistent form, the same can’t be said for Labuschagne, who appears primed for a recall to the Test side.

Smith admitted he was “proud” of his close mate but where Labuschagne fits into the batting order for the first game on November 21 remains to be seen.

“There’s a few options obviously,” he said.

“I sent him a message the other day saying how proud I was of him. He got dropped from the team and he’s gone back and got four hundreds … it’s a pretty big statement.

Marnus Labuschagne Getty

“He said to me at the start of the summer ‘I will be in that Test team’ and he’s backed up his words. He’s obviously not selected yet, but he has done a lot of things right.

“It’s always tough when you get dropped, we’ve all been there at some point in our careers and it’s difficult to hear it. He knew he probably wasn’t batting as well as he had four years ago when he was scoring a mountain of runs, he had gone off a little bit.

“My advice to him was stop thinking so technically, just go and play the game and react.

“I think he has been doing that really beautifully and he has played so nicely.” 

As for the vice-captain, who is expected to fill for Pat Cummins in he main leadership role early in the five-game series, things are only just starting to ramp up.

Smith was recently overseas in New York – where he owns an apartment and regularly spends time while not playing – before returning last week and starting to hit balls, ramping up his preparation for his first Shield game against Queensland.

The 36-year-old admits the more brief lead-up to the Ashes is to preserve him mentally.

“I’ve been back here for just over a week now and I’ve had three hits since I’ve been back,” Smith said at the Cricket NSW training centre.

Steve Smith Getty

“I certainly get drained mentally quicker than I used to. I think 10 years ago, I used to love to come back and play every single game that I could.

“Obviously my Test cricket has taken a huge priority and I think last year, I was batting my best at the back-end of the summer, coming off not too much cricket at the start.

“When I play a lot at the start of the summer, I’m pretty cooked mentally and can’t produce the same performances. There’s obviously a balance, but I don’t think it takes me much now to get up to game speed and I want to stay as mentally fresh as possible.

“Technically I feel in a good place, but it’s about being mentally fresh and I’m probably not hitting as many balls as I used to.”