Pat Cummins gives show of confidence to Sam Konstas as he urges under-fire opener to look at the bigger picture.
‘Don’t get too caught up in every innings’ – Pat Cummins urges Konstas to look at the big picture.
As he attempts to establish himself in Test cricket, Pat Cummins has advised Sam Konstas not to judge his own performances by innings. To prevent ambiguity about Australia’s opening slot in the upcoming months, the 19-year-old needs to have a great end to the West Indies trip.
In Barbados, Konstas had scores of 3 and 5, while in Grenada, he had scores of 25 and 0. Before edging a drive in the first inning, he had created himself a platform. Towards the conclusion of the second day, when Australia’s openers had little time to bat, he dragged on against Jayden Seales.
Since his first innings of 60 against India at the MCG, he has not exceeded 25, and he currently averages 18.25 from four Test matches. He will very certainly play in the last Test match at Sabina Park in Jamaica, which will provide additional difficulties because it is a day-night match. However, he will be back among the starting contenders for the Ashes in the early going of the Australian domestic season if he does not score a significant amount.
“I think for anyone who’s starting out their Test career, you are kind of picked for a reason and you at your best we know is good enough,” Cummins said. “It’s just about concentrating on what makes you a really good player. For someone like a batter, it might be where you score, what tempo do you normally operate at [when at] your best. And just don’t get too caught up in every innings [feeling] like [it’s] the biggest thing in the world.
“I think the stat is, even the best batters in the world don’t hit their average three out of four times or something like that. You’re going to fail more often than you’re going to succeed. So just as long as you’re a quick learner, as long as you’re moving well… and judge yourself after a series or so, not innings by innings.”
Only in the coming days will the ICC approve the new lights at the stadium, and match preparations are quite close to the start. However, everything points to it happening as scheduled.
“We’ve been trying to get our hands on some [of the pink balls] but we haven’t got some yet. Hopefully they’re waiting for us in Jamaica,” Cummins said. “My experience in pink-ball [Tests] in Australia is you never quite know what you’re going to get. We’ve played a lot, but things can change really quickly so even when you feel like you’re on top things can change quite fast.”