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The crucial change that Paine thinks has created the “major shift in output” for Head in Tests
Lachlan Geleit • December 10th, 2024 12:09 pm
Australia’s No.5 Travis Head stole the show against India in his home town of Adelaide.
Striding to the crease with Australia 1-0 down in the series and at 3/103 in reply to India’s first innings effort of 180, Head’s blistering 140 from 141 balls truly took the game away from the opposition as the Aussies reached a total of 337 to set up the 10-wicket win.
That knock handed Head his eighth Player of the Match award from just 51 Tests, which is more than any of his current Australian teammates apart from Steve Smith (13) and the most in cricket history of players to play 70 or fewer Tests.
Having proven to be a true match-winner in the game’s most difficult format, Head’s former captain Tim Paine thinks that what makes the South Australian so great is having full conviction in his own methods which were often criticised early in his career.
“Travis Head, in modern-day cricket where batters are analysed to within an inch of their life, he is a great example of finding a way that works for you and just sticking to it,” Paine told SEN Breakfast.
“He doesn't worry about what (works for others), and I've played a little bit with him, he doesn't care what people think about his technique or how it looks.
“He does a lot of things where commentators would say, ‘Oh, why has he done that?’, or his feet are off the ground and he’s playing away from his body.
“But Travis Head plays how Travis Head plays and he has absolute conviction in the way he goes about it.
“It is amazing to watch a guy just at the peak of his powers at the moment.”
Speaking of those knocks on his technique early in his career, Paine revealed that Head and his first Aussie coach Justin Langer used to have a real difference of opinion on how to go about batting against the red ball.
Since being allowed the freedom to play his own way both late in Langer’s tenure and under the guidance of Andrew McDonald and Pat Cummins, Paine thinks Head has truly flourished as an international Test cricketer.
“I don't think either of them will mind me saying this, but I think he and JL used to have a real difference of opinion,” Paine said.
“You've got Test greats in commentary and you've got a Test great (Langer) that’s coaching and Graeme Hick at the time who’d scored 101 First Class hundreds as his batting coach (offering advice).
“They were trying really hard for him to work on his defence and it wasn't the way he wanted to go about it, but he was a young Test player who was trying to impress and trying to stay in the team, so he was trying to please a bit of everyone.
“I think that's been the major shift in his output because he is sticking true to the way he wants to play.
“At times he's going to fail and at times he's gonna have lean patches, but he's going to be super aggressive, he's going to play his shots and he's going to try and be a match winner and we're just seeing him blossom at the moment in all formats of the game.”
Head will hope to keep up his brilliant form when Australia face India in the third Test in Brisbane.
Listen to every ball of the third Test from Friday on SEN and the SEN app as well as every ball of the BBL|14 season which begins on Sunday.
