Teenage opener Sam Konstas said yesterday he had “come a long way” from his combative debut against India after winning his place back for Australia’s opening Test against the West Indies.
The 19-year-old made headlines in the Melbourne Boxing Day Test last year when he took on fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah to make a blazing debut 60 with a slew of unorthodox shots.
However, he only lasted one more Test before being jettisoned with some pundits seeing his batting as “reckless.”
Photo: AFP
With a struggling Marnus Labuschagne dropped for the opening Test in Barbados on Wednesday and Steve Smith out nursing an injured finger, Konstas has another chance, confirmed as a certain starter.
“The emotions probably got to me with the crowd,” Konstas, who has his Test cap No. 468 tattooed on his forearm, said of his explosive Boxing Day knock. “I’ve been trying to focus on a few key areas with my batting coach, and I feel like I’ve come a long way, so hopefully I can display that in the next few Test matches.”
Konstas is set to open alongside Usman Khawaja, 19 years his senior, with an opportunity to cement the position as his own.
Since David Warner retired 18 months ago, Australia has tried five openers, including Konstas, and with an Ashes series against England this year they need stability.
“Very excited. Obviously it’s a tough team to crack into as we’ve got legends of the game,” the teenager said. “Hopefully I grab my opportunity with both hands.
“It’s a dream come true to be honest, 19 years old, playing for your country, travelling the world. I’m very lucky to be where I am currently,” Konstas said.
Taiwanese tennis veteran Hsieh Su-wei (謝淑薇) and her Latvian partner Jelena Ostapenko finished runners-up in the Wimbledon women's doubles final yesterday, losing 6-3, 2-6, 4-6. The three-set match against Veronika Kudermetova of Russia and Elise Mertens of Belgium lasted two hours and 23 minutes. The loss denied 39-year-old Hsieh a chance to claim her 10th Grand Slam title. Although the Taiwanese-Latvian duo trailed 1-3 in the opening set, they rallied with two service breaks to take it 6-3. In the second set, Mertens and Kudermetova raced to a 5-1 lead and wrapped it up 6-2 to even the match. In the final set, Hsieh and
Taiwanese tennis veteran Hsieh Su-wei and her Latvian partner, Jelena Ostapenko, advanced to the Wimbledon women’s doubles final on Friday, defeating top seeds Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic and Taylor Townsend of the US in straight sets. The fourth-seeded duo bounced back quickly after losing their opening service game, capitalizing on frequent unforced errors by their opponents to take the first set 7-5. Maintaining their momentum in the second set, Hsieh and Ostapenko broke serve early and held their lead to close out the match 6-4. They are set to face the eighth-seeded pair of Veronika Kudermetova of Russia and Elise Mertens
Outside Anfield, the red sea of tributes to Diogo Jota and his brother, Andre Silva, has continued to grow this week, along with questions over whether Liverpool could play at Preston today, their first game since the brothers’ tragic loss. Inside Anfield, and specifically a grieving Liverpool dressing room, there was no major debate over the pre-season friendly. The English Premier League champions intend to honor their teammate in the best way they know how. It would be only 10 days since the deaths of Jota and Silva when Liverpool appear at Deepdale Stadium for what is certain to be a hugely
ON A KNEE: In the MLB’s equivalent of soccer’s penalty-kicks shoot-out, the game was decided by three batters from each side taking three swings each off coaches Kyle Schwarber was nervous. He had played in Game 7 of the MLB World Series and homered for the US in the World Baseball Classic (WBC), but he had never walked up to the plate in an All-Star Game swing-off. No one had. “That’s kind of like the baseball version of a shoot-out,” Schwarber said after homering on all three of his swings, going down to his left knee on the final one, to overcome a two-homer deficit. That held up when Jonathan Aranda fell short on the American League’s final three swings, giving the National League a 4-3 swing-off win after
RSS