Australia’s revolutionary plan for Ashes hero Head revealed as Hazlewood doubts build

3 months ago 19

Australia selectors have earmarked Ashes hero Travis Head to become a second-innings opening enforcer in a strategy that has the potential to revolutionise the thinking behind batting orders in Test cricket.

Head is unlikely to be recast as a permanent opener despite his match-winning century in Perth but the team’s brains trust will strongly consider pushing him up to the top of the order later in games if conditions require his dynamic strokeplay to be unleashed against the new ball.

Though national coach and selector Andrew McDonald did not guarantee Usman Khawaja selection for the second Test if fit, Australia’s left-field approach with the South Australian thrill seeker is a pointer the veteran opener will not be discarded for the Gabba.

Khawaja is undergoing further examination of his back after suffering back spasms during the first Test when his injury woes prevented him from opening the batting in either innings.

Skipper Pat Cummins will be in the Test frame for Brisbane, but selectors are wary of rushing his comeback.

McDonald also left the door ajar to leaving out spinner Nathan Lyon for Brisbane’s pink-ball Test while Josh Hazlewood will almost certainly not play next week but has not been ruled out for the series.

Head’s game-changing pyrotechnics in Perth have prompted calls for him to become a permanent opening fixture, but Australia have another plan in mind to maximise the skills of their batting weapon.

Head would remain at his customary position at No.5 in the first innings and move to open in the second innings depending on factors such as the condition of the pitch, the difficulty of scoring runs against the newer or older ball and the game situation.

Chopping and changing batting orders during a game is common in the white-ball formats but occurs less regularly in Tests, barring the use of the nightwatchman. Even wicketkeeping great Adam Gilchrist was moved only occasionally up the order in second innings.

“I think it gave us a little bit of a lens potentially to the future in terms of adjusting batting orders in second innings, which is something that we have discussed, to be able to put different people in different positions with the scenario that was presented,” McDonald said.

Travis Head the entertainer after his match-winning century.

“You do it in one-day cricket, you front end some of your innings, you know the back end is going to be difficult to chase down the runs.

“Then there’s other times in one-day cricket where it’s difficult up front, you back end your innings, and you put all your power at the back end. So can that transition and Test cricket? Are people ready for that?

“It’s a conversation that we have had. We’ve had a conversation around Travis opening the batting for a long period of time, and Trav has been on the record this week and previously around that also.

“I suppose now that it’s out there, yeah, happy to talk about it. Will we do it? If it presents at the right time, potentially.”

McDonald does not expect Khawaja’s back injury to rule him out of the second Test, which starts on Thursday December 4, but he will be assessed this week by doctors.

“It’s a long way out, a lot of information to gather between now and then, and hopefully Usman is fit and available for selection,” McDonald said.

The early finish pushed Cummins’ next bowl back a day to Tuesday. He bowled at full tilt in Perth and selectors will discuss a return for Brisbane.

“It looked like a player that was nearing the completion of his rehabilitation,” McDonald said. “The intensity was there, the ball speed was there. So there’s a lot of positives there, but now it’s just really building that resilience there, just within the soft tissue, and making sure that we’re not putting him in harm’s way in terms of accelerating it too much.

“But it will be a genuine discussion leading into this Test match, and that may be one that eventuates late for us. A little bit to work through, but it’s nearing completion, which is really, really positive.”

McDonald left the door ajar for an all-pace attack at the Gabba though he said it was not their top preference to drop Lyon, who missed Australia’s last day/night Test in the Caribbean. Lyon bowled just two overs in Perth though McDonald said he would have bowled more if the game had reached a third and fourth day.

“If you look at Australian pink ball cricket in general terms, the middle sessions have been quite benign, and Nathan’s done a lot of work there,” McDonald said.

“So I think to jump to the conclusion that you’d automatically assume that it’s just going to be another bowler dominated game, we can’t make those assumptions. And we’d ask that question when we lead in. Will we ask ourselves the question? Of course we do, every game.”

Hazlewood is in the first week of his rehabilitation from what Cricket Australia said was a low-grade hamstring. McDonald did not provide a timeline on Hazlewood’s return but a source with knowledge of the matter said it was unlikely the giant quick would play in Brisbane.

“I know that he’ll be available at some point during the series, and once again, we’re not going to put our medical team into a scenario where we identify a game and then the speculation starts around that,” McDonald said.