Travis Head’s breathtaking century has been lauded as one of the greatest innings in Ashes history as he staked his claim to be Australia’s full-time Test opener moving forward.
Promoted to open in the absence of Usman Khawaja — who once again was forbidden from opening the batting due to time spent off the field — Head brought up his century off just 69 balls, eventually making 123 off just 83 deliveries before he was dismissed with the match virtually in the bag.
Head flayed England’s all-out pace attack all around the ground, firstly putting on a 75-run opening partnership with debutant Jake Weatherald, before adding another 117 runs with Marnus Labuschagne. His century was the joint third-fastest by an Australian in Test cricket.
The partnership with Labuschagne conjured up memories of the pair’s match-winning stand in the 2023 World Cup final — particularly for Labuschagne himself.
Marnus Labuschagne (left) said his partnership with Head reminded him of the pair’s match-winning stand in the 2023 World Cup final. (Getty Images: Cameron Spencer)
“It just felt the same,” Australia’s number three told ABC Radio.
“I just had that same feeling that he was going. Everything was hitting the gap and the ball was sailing and he was just hitting them so clean.
“I just played my part, and he just dragged me with him.”
Head’s innings left a number of cricket greats floored, with Darren Lehmann calling it “one of the best innings I’ve ever seen live”.
“It’s one of the best innings you’ll ever see in Test match cricket, Ashes cricket, world cricket, any cricket,” he told ABC Radio.
“This guy keeps doing it on big stages and in big moments. He doesn’t look the prettiest or most stylish, but he’s got power and belief and takes the game on.
“That was just an amazing innings, I’ve not seen anything like it.”
Former Australian all-rounder Tom Moody called Head’s knock “breathtaking”.
“Travis Head does it when it counts, he does it in big, big moments. This was another significant moment in this series,” he told ABC Radio.
“When you see players like that in full flight, you cannot come up with an answer of where to bowl. He had every shot — conventional and unconventional. It makes it very hard hard for an attack to settle and dictate terms. It’s incredible, really.”
Former England spinner Phil Tufnell described Head’s innings as the “perfectly-timed knock” on ABC Radio.
“He’s gotten on top of England and destroyed them. Some sort of special knock that was,” he said.
“He’s the kind of player you don’t want to see opening the batting when you’re defending a low total.
Head’s stunning onslaught left England’s bowlers such as Gus Atkinson (right) utterly demoralised. (Getty Images: Gareth Copley)
“This has been a body-blow hundred for England.”
Head said he’d learned that he would open in Australia’s second innings once the players formed a huddle after bowling England out for 164 on the stroke of tea, and said he had “no game plan” on how to approach the innings.
“I was actually a proper opener for the first few overs,” he told ABC Radio.
“I was never letting [Weatherald] face the first one. I was pretty keen to go out there and I felt like the way they bowled to me as well, I knew the short-pitched stuff was coming at some stage.
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“If I could get out there and get off to a start, that would make it easy for the guys behind me, and it worked perfectly.”
Head said he had trained each of the four days in the lead-up to the first Test — a rarity for him — after struggling to find form with the bat in the Sheffield Shield and limited overs hit-outs against India.
“I’m old enough now and I’ve played enough cricket to know what my prep needs to be,” he said.
“I try to stay on a level playing field. If I’m not getting runs in the middle, I step it up at training and try and get a rhythm. If I get runs like today, then training drops off a little bit, so I just keep mentally fresh.
“I think the hardest part about this game is the mental side.”
Head’s blistering knock could see him replace Usman Khawaja at the top of Australia’s batting line-up for the second Test and beyond. (Getty Images: Darrian Traynor)
Head’s innings means he now averages 55.5 in nine Test innings as an opener — his best mark of any position in the batting line-up throughout his 61-Test career.
While Head wasn’t ready to throw his hand up to become Australia’s full-time Test opener, former Australian paceman Jason Gillespie said it was a worthwhile option moving forward.
“There’s every chance that it could happen and the Australian selectors might pivot,” he said.
“It’s definitely worth a discussion. I wonder if [the solution to Australia’s opening problem] has been staring the selectors in the face all this time.”
“It was a David Warneresque attack on the fast bowlers,” Lehmann added.
“We saw what happened when it came off – they went to different plans and didn’t know what they were doing.
“I think we’ve got to take some initiative there and that might be the answer.
“Travis took the bull by the horns and took the game on and all of a sudden England bowled so much differently.”
