Australia's opening bet: Is Sam Konstas ready for Test cricket?

Is Konstas himself ready to play Test cricket? Only time will tell and he will get a chance to add to his case against India A in the next two weeks.

But if the 19-year-old were picked for the opening Test against India, he would be an unprecedented selection in modern Australian cricket.

Even if he plays both matches against India A, picking an Australian batsman who has played fewer than ten first-class matches before making his Test debut is almost unheard of in the last 35 years. Not Ricky Pontingnot Steven Smithnot David Warnernot Cameron Green, and not even the late Phillip Hughes had so little experience when he first got a Baggy Green.

Comparisons between Ponting and Konstas have been rife since the latter became the third youngest after Ponting to score in the space of two centuries. Sheffield Shield game earlier this month. But beyond achieving this feat as teenagers, the comparisons end for now.

Ponting achieved this feat as an 18-year-old in March 1993, but he did not play Test cricket until just before his 21st birthday in December 1995. Ponting's accumulated experience by the time he was picked to play Test cricket makes him look like a veteran in comparison with Konstas. He had played 42 first-class matches and scored 12 first-class centuries, at an average of 51.23. He had toured with Australia and played six ODIs in New Zealand and the Caribbean in 1995. He had also played for Australia A in front of ODI-style crowds in the oft-remembered summer of 1994-95.

Konstas has played just three of his six first-class matches at a Test ground and is yet to reach 50 at a Test venue. He has less than 500 first-class runs to his name. If Alex Carey had had a very clear lead that Konstas bid at 0 in the second innings against South Australia, he might not even have 400.

Coach from New South Wales Greg Shipperd is in a rare position to comment on whether Konstas is ready compared to Ponting, as he also coached the former Australian captain when he scored two centuries for Tasmania. Shipperd was asked last week whether Konstas would benefit from having to wait like Ponting.

'I'm not sure. That's a really good question,” he said. “Yes, he had to wait. So whether that made him or whether he was already made anyway, because he scored several hundreds over the course of that journey between not being selected and finally being selected, I think around 21 .

“But Sam, I see a lot of that skill level and that poise at the crease, shots on both sides of the wicket, in front of the wicket, behind the wicket. I think he's got what it takes. And again, Ricky was trying at that moment to break into a super Australian side with probably no holes. But there is a hole in the Australian team in the position Sam is currently playing in.”

Shipperd's opinion must carry weight. But it is worth noting that the Australian team in 1993 was not as stable or as strong as suggested.

Early 1993, Australia lost a home five-Test series to the West Indies and beyond drawn a series in New Zealand, while Ponting made those two tons for Tasmania. The top order was significantly shaken. Dean Jones was dropped at the end of 1992 and did not play again. Damien Martyn, then 21, and Justin Langer, 22, made their Test debuts in 1992-93.

Mark Waugh, then 27, was dropped in March 1993 after achieving just an average of 33.21 in his first 21 Tests. The Waugh twins turned 28 before the first Ashes Test in June 1993, with Steve averaging 36.27 after 52 Tests at the time. But both were selected in England ahead of Martyn, while Langer and the prodigy Ponting didn't even make the tour.

Further opportunities came in Australia's mid-table following the retirement of Allan Border in 1994. Michael Bevan, then 24, and Greg Blewett, 23, both made their debuts for Ponting, who was subsequently dropped and recalled four times between 1995 and 1999 and failed to establish himself at number one. .3 until 2001, just before he turned 26.

Australia produced two young openers in 1993-94: Michael Slater, then 23, and Matthew Hayden, 22, but both were far more experienced than Konstas.

The best comparison to Konstas' top-tier inexperience is, somewhat neatly, the man Australia is trying to replace in Warner.

But even Warner had amassed 960 runs in 11 first-class matches, including a double century, two further centuries and a 99, dispelling all myths that he was purely a T20 slogger. Warner was also 25 when he made his Test debut and had played ten ODIs for Australia and 29 T20Is, including two T20 World Cups.

The trope of Smith being picked without many first-class runs behind him is also a misnomer. He had made four Shield centuries in one season and scored 1012 first-class runs at 56.22. Like Warner, he also made his debut in ODI and T20I cricket before his Test debut.

Good judges say that despite a small sample size, Konstas is the equal of all these players. He could well add to his record against India A and make his case for selection virtually irrefutable.

But there is one player who has quietly disappeared from view as a possible option to start against India, whose career so far provides a salutary lesson on the dangers of promoting a player too early.

Matt Renshaw had played just 12 first-class matches when he was picked for his Test debut at the age of 20, averaging less than 45 with three centuries. Unlike Warner, Smith and even Green, he had not been given the opportunity to make his international debut in white-ball cricket and had played just one match for Australia A.

Renshaw is now 28 and his Test career has been a rollercoaster ride in the form of Hayden's first seven years, after selection initially seemed a success as he averaged 53.22 in his first six Tests. He was Australia's back-up batsman in their last two Test series but now appears to be well outside the top four options to fill the current vacancy.

Selection is not an exact science, but there are clear indications that more data is better than less. Konstas could be the real deal. However, it would be an unprecedented gamble if he were to be elected so quickly.