SamKonstas

A very gifted batter, Sam Konstas was handed his Sheffield Shield debut just weeks after his 18th birthday, scoring 10 and 23 in a low-scoring win over Tasmania.

A few months later and Konstas was a valued member of Australia's victorious 2024 Under-19 World Cup team, with his tournament including a century against the West Indies.

Three promising Shield games to end the season saw Konstas' contract upgraded to NSW's main list, a nice pairing with his Sydney Thunder deal.

Konstas began the 2024-25 Sheffield Shield campaign with his maiden first-class century, a brilliant 152 against South Australia, then repeated the feat in the next innings to become the youngest player since Ricky Ponting to hit centuries in both innings of a Sheffield Shield match.

Elevated to the conversation for the 2024-25 Test series against India and featuring in a "bat-off" against vastly more experienced incumbents for Australia A, Konstas then hit a century against the touring Indians for the Prime Minister's XI and blazed his way into the record books for the Sydney Thunder with a whirlwind fifty on his KFC BBL debut. 

He was called up to Australia's Test squad for the 2024 Boxing Day Test at 19 years and 79 days.