The rise of a young Greek Australian batsman has set the cricketing world alight—after debuting for Australia as a opener, at the MCG in the 4th Test against India, and scoring 60 of 65 balls.
It’s not just his skill but his Achillean confidence at the crease. His attacking style has enthralled the crowd and rattled . Vince Rugari, in the SMH, has gone beyond the natural excitement and spectacle to tell a story that speaks to raw talent and the power of community sport and multiculturalism.
Young Konstas lit up Boxing Day with his audacious ramp shot, h brushed off Virat Kohli’s glare with indifference in front of a roaring MCG crowd, the Kingsgrove crew watched in awe like the rest of the nation. But for them, this moment wasn’t unexpected. The cricketing world has glimpsed fleeting hints of the star Konstas could become for Australia, they’ve seen the feature reel says Rugari.
Sport is the first bridge to integration and acceptance, the great equalizer—less so cricket, which until recently has remained an Anglocentric sport in Australia. Rugari also brings it back to community and the way the former NSW Premier, Morris Iemma, a volunteer at the Kingsgrove Cricket Club in Sydney’s south, remembered:
“When word reached him about this prodigious sporting family from the area: Billy, the eldest of three brothers, and twins Johnny and Sam.”
“Three kids with a Greek surname, from one of Sydney’s most Greek pockets? They fitted the bill nicely and formed part of the influx of new players, along with plenty of others from Greek, Lebanese, and Indian backgrounds,” writes Rugari.
Shaunaugh Crowe “alerted” Iemma to the existence of the Konstas family.
It was unique. The Konstas kids were “naturals at sport: soccer, rugby league, any type of sport.” Crowe lobbied Iemma to get them into the club as they “loved” cricket, he writes.
Subodh Shirodkar, who became Konstas’s coach at club and representative levels, and his wife, Manisha, the team manager, took the twins—Sam and Johnny—for a training session with a group of other new applicants not long after they signed up. They were around six or seven years old.
“We’ve got three special ones here,” Subodh said. “The one called Sam … oh, boy. That boy will play for Australia.”
To produce a Test cricketer, “you need a humble village institution, such as the Kingsgrove Cricket Club,” writes Rugari.
This young Greek Australian has shattered expectations. Partnering with South Asian batsman Usman Khawaja to open the fourth Test against India, they demonstrated that cricket no longer belongs to one cultural narrative in Australia.
Konstas’s early cricket journey at Kingsgrove came to an abrupt end—not due to any lack of skill, but because his talent demanded a bigger stage. By the age of 13, he was already competing against adults in grade cricket for St George. On occasions when he wasn’t selected for St George, he returned to Kingsgrove to play for their fourth-grade team, where he clinched a premiership in 2019 alongside Johnny.
This Friday, Konstas will step onto the SCG, his home ground, for the first time, supported by friends, family, former teammates, coaches, and Kingsgrove club representatives. Of course, the whole Greek Australian community and the rest of Australia will be with him.
The occasion will also be tinged with sadness—Subodh died, aged only 55, on Australia Day last year.
“On the day of his funeral, Konstas scored a century for Australia’s under-19s—and on Boxing Day, when he made his debut with an instant-classic innings of 60, it was 11 months to the day since Subodh died,” writes Rugari.
Subodh will be watching him from above, according to his wife, Manisha.
