Head has easily been Australia’s best batter on treacherous decks.
Australia batter Travis Head has said that he enjoys batting more on seam-friendly surfaces rather than flatter ones in Test cricket. The upcoming Ashes 2025 will likely have similar pitches, as has been the trend in recent home summers Down Under.
Head has easily been Australia’s best batter on treacherous decks, and his unorthodox methods have proved to be more effective when fast bowlers have ruled the proceedings. In an interview with ESPNcricinfo, the batter explained he is naturally a stroke-maker, and pacy surfaces allow him to get away with a few things.
“I probably enjoy batting on those sorts of wickets. The flatter wickets, with the grind, that more so challenge technique, I think, over longer periods of time [trying] to eke out runs has never probably come as natural to me with being a stroke player and wanting to get on with it.”
Since 2022, Head has scored the most runs for Australia at home, compiling 1282 runs at an average of 53.41 in 26 innings, including five fifties and as many centuries. Additionally, his strike rate of 89.33 has clearly been the best in the world, which is possible due to his ultra-aggressive methods and intent to take on the bowlers, irrespective of the match situation.
Since the pitch conditions have changed, most Australian batters have struggled to get going, and their numbers have dipped noticeably. For instance, Steve Smith, who averaged a whopping 65.24 at home until 2021, has managed an average of 47.34 only since 2022.
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The likes of Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne have consistently been below-par, with the latter also getting dropped after a series of low scores. Amidst all the batting crises, Travis Head has found ways to score consistently and stabilised the innings in the middle order.
England will bring a fiery pace attack to counter the Aussies, but Head has averaged 42.61 against fast bowlers since 2022, comfortably the best among all his teammates with at least 100 Test runs. Even against India in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, he was the leading run-scorer, with 448 runs at an average of 56 in nine outings, when all other batters from both sides hardly survived.
English speedsters can get away with movement in the pitch and bowl fuller lengths in the upcoming Ashes, which will open run-scoring options for the batter. Australia have a shaky top-order, with more unsettled slots than ever, but Head has been constant through everything, and the team will bank on him again.
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