‘Pretty surreal’: Is this teenager the next Sam Konstas?

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On Sam Konstas day, sorry Boxing Day, Ollie Peake was the Test team’s “water boy”, running drinks and gloves to his former Australian under-19s teammate.

He heard Usman Khawaja’s almost incredulous laughter at how Konstas took down Jasprit Bumrah, the roar of the crowd and the interventions of spider cam.

Fergus O’Neill congratulates Ollie Peake on his match-winning Sheffield Shield knock.

It was a “different world” for 19-year-old Peake, but one that he is intent on entering sooner rather than later.

After a sublimely composed, unbeaten 70 to guide Victoria to an opening Sheffield Shield win over South Australia in Adelaide, Peake will face Konstas at Junction Oval this week with the aim of emulating his peer’s rapid rise to Test stardom.

“It was pretty surreal to see,” Peake said. “I caught Uzzy a couple of times chuckling at him and sort of thinking, ‘How crazy is this’, and even talking to the spider cam during drinks breaks and stuff I was like, ‘This is a different world’.

“To watch him take down Bumrah was so cool to see, and from that World Cup team a couple of years ago, everyone is pretty close, so when guys are doing well, everyone sends messages to each other.

“Sam was a good example of doing well early in the year and earning his chance through that. I was driving here this morning and pinching myself. I’ve got mates at uni and who I grew up with. For me to be driving to cricket at 9am as my job is just incredible.”

Peake’s ability to problem-solve as a teenage batter has already earned him a few priceless opportunities. The son of Victorian state batter Clinton Peake, Ollie was a development squad member on the Test tour of Sri Lanka in January, before academy and Australia-A trips to India later in the year.

He praised Khawaja for helping to equip him for the challenge of facing spin or pace in helpful conditions for bowlers, something he made excellent use of against the hard-spun leg-breaks of Lloyd Pope on a tense final afternoon at Adelaide Oval.

“I got a lot of time with Uzzy. In the lead-up, he gave me heaps and he was really good to talk to,” Peake said. “To be out there and face Popey into the rough – I definitely don’t think I could have done that without those trips and the learnings I’d taken.

“It was starting to spin quite extravagantly, and I had to get into it from ball one – I couldn’t wait for something to happen. So that was something I learned while I’d been away – you can’t wait, you have to get straight into it. So I definitely played him a lot different to how I would [have] a year or so ago.”

There have been some more humbling moments against Test fast bowler – and likely Pat Cummins replacement – Scott Boland in training before this week’s game, but it is all part of a journey with every chance of accelerating, much as Konstas’ has done.

“I faced him in the nets yesterday and I think my first two balls he nicked me off and then [he] bowled me, so [he] got me on both sides of the bat,” Peake said of Boland.

“Which I was assured by a lot of people that I am not the first person to do. He was going really well in Adelaide, had a lot of plays and misses, and I think he will be fit and firing for the Ashes.”

Greg Shipperd, now the NSW coach but a long-time mentor of many a Victorian cricketer, said that Peake’s ability to read the game was something that stood out for selectors.

“What a fabulous effort,” Shipperd said of Peake’s round one innings. “All indications are that he’s a really smart young cricketer. There are some that are very smart immediately... and others take time to learn the nuances of the game.

“It helps when you’ve got a father who’s played the game, and the level of conversation and cricket intellect around the home front has been a nice foundational point for him.”

Clinton’s emphasis to Ollie was telling. Rather than pushing technical purity, he cajoled his son to think about scenarios and mental formulae to build an innings.

“He’s been massive,” Peake said. “Growing up and hearing how people grow up, we took a slightly different path. He spoke to me a lot about gamesmanship and batting to a plan, and a formula more than technique.

“In that aspect I think it’s helped me massively. Having that mindfulness in the game identified a bit earlier, I think that’s going to hold me in good stead.”

There is much to play out, but it is hard to see Peake’s next Boxing Day passing as the Test team’s water boy.