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Healy joins chorus of voices calling for Konstas to return home from Sri Lanka tour
Lachlan Geleit • February 3rd, 2025 7:32 pm
Aussie cricket great Ian Healy has joined those calling for Sam Konstas to be sent home from the two-Test tour against Sri Lanka.
After playing in the last two Tests of the Australian summer, Konstas didn’t play in the huge first Test win in Galle, being replaced in the XI by Josh Inglis and Travis Head took his place at the top of the order.
Given it’s unlikely that Australia will change a winning formula, Konstas appears likely to sit on the sidelines again for the second Test and Healy agrees with those who think the 19-year-old should head home to play in New South Wales’ next Sheffield Shield game which begins on Saturday against Queensland.
With a recall likely for Australia’s next Test after the Sri Lanka tour – the World Test Championship Final in June – Healy wants Konstas to get as much practice in against the red-ball after heading over to train with the Aussies in Dubai and Galle.
“You don't give just opportunities in a Test team, so they’ll be keeping the same team as long as everyone’s fit,” Healy told SENQ Breakfast.
“Australia will have the same team, and I like the idea (of sending Konstas home to play First Class). He’s had a week in Dubai, he’s had a week or more training in Sri Lanka, watching a Test match and being around the dressing room and seeing how blokes are approaching each session.
“Now, if you're not going to play him, he might as well be back playing for New South Wales and getting more red ball practice is, because they're going to use him in the World Test Championship.
“He'll come back to be the opening batsman against South Africa, so he's got to get some red ball cricket under his belt.”
While he appears unlikely to feature in either of the Tests in Sri Lanka, Healy feels that the last fortnight travelling with the Australian team would have done the teenager plenty.
“He would get stuff out of it,” Healy said.
“Even just to see the grind of Steve Smith and Usman Khawaja how he went out again and approached it right from ball one on the fifth session that he'd batted, it’s those types of things.
“He would have listened to the strategies and participated in the strategies, so he would have learned.”
The second Test between Sri Lanka and Australia in Galle begins on Thursday afternoon (AEDT). Listen to every ball LIVE on SEN and the SEN app.
