Head's X-factor qualities - The missing piece in Australia's jigsaw
January 15 2022 by Bharat Sundaresan
Like with the Redbacks dressing-room, there's the sense of freewheeling joy that Head provides his team when having one of those days in the middle.
Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne had a lovely exchange in the nets on the eve of the fifth Test. It was just minutes after Head had walked in for a hit, by which time Labuschagne was done with his first session. With pads still on, Australia's Test No 3 had now picked up a sidearm and was happy to hear the incumbent No 5 ask for some throwdowns. Around three deliveries into this net session, Head slapped a length delivery back towards Labuschagne, much to their amusement.
"Remember the time we used to play this shot as kids," Head yelled out to his teammate, who willingly got sucked into the impromptu nostalgia drive. The two then briefly bonded over shared memories of having played the sport at one point with the raw innocence of kids hitting a cricket ball with their bat. Back when they could do so without really concerning themselves too much with head positions and trigger movements.
"Oh, I remember many afternoons at the Adelaide Oval," Head said and was very excited to hear Labuschagne talk about his own encounters with his youth. What added to the pure joy of the passage was the presence of a handful of local kids, around the age that the two Test stars were referring to, listening in from the street just outside the nets area.
The setting was not by any means reminiscent of their early days when Head and Labuschagne got together in the middle of the Bellerive Oval on Friday (January 14). The ball was pink, the pitch was green, the skies were dark grey. The score, meanwhile, read 3/12. Steve Smith and David Warner had been sent packing for blobs by an inspired Ollie Robinson while Stuart Broad was creating some mild havoc at his end, when he wasn't literally falling flat on his face like he did after his first delivery of his innings. Labuschagne had already survived a dropped catch a couple of overs prior to Head's arrival. You wondered if the tone of the chat between the two was at all similar to the one they'd had on the previous afternoon. A few minutes into their partnership, you got the feeling that it probably was. That they'd decided to take on this rather challenging proposition of facing Broad, Robinson and Mark Wood on a green top with gay abandon. And Labuschagne's cheeky smile, after he'd struck two very imposing boundaries leading up to it, at the drinks break told you they'd chosen to enjoy the moment. That their approach was indeed going to be based around free expression rather than mere circumspection, which the situation seemed to demand.
It eventuated into one of the most exhilarating counterattacks in bowler-friendly conditions we've probably ever seen. A joint assault where Head and Labuschagne seemed to have transported themselves back to how they started playing this sport they love. Just keep your eyes on the ball and find ways of striking it as best as you can. They hit eight boundaries between them over the next nine overs, completely overturning the narrative of the first-ever session of Ashes cricket in Tasmania. It was only apt then that their stand would be brought to an end by a dismissal straight out of junior cricket, as Labuschagne lay spread before the 9000-odd at the Bellerive Oval, with Broad having knocked his middle-stump back.
Head though was just about getting started. There is this raw honesty about the South Australian captain's batting that resonates with his very straightforward personality. He might not always look the soundest, in terms of technique, or always seem to make the right decisions, in terms of shot selection. But where Head stands out is his innate ability to take the pitch and the match situation out of the equation with his clarity of approach. There are few batters around Australian cricket currently who are more merciless than him when it comes to leaving the bowlers with very little margin for error. Ask opposition captains in the Sheffield Shield and they'll tell you why he's so feared on the circuit. It's this confidence and ability to play shots that might not always befit or seem warranted based on when and where he's playing them, that makes him such a challenging proposition.
As England found out in Brisbane and like they certainly did at the Bellerive Oval. If Head had looked bold in the company of Labuschagne, he was more brazen after the dinner break in the company of Cameron Green. His uppish whip off an undercooked Robinson in his only over in the second session set the tone. Over the next 45 minutes or so, the left-hander had stood his ground and delivered nearly half a dozen more imperious boundaries that gleamed with impudence.
Head hadn't just set the tone, he was controlling it now. And he had the English fielders scattering around from one side of the field to the other. If the bowlers went anywhere close to his pads, he either flicked them away or nudged them towards the fine-leg boundary. If they went even slightly wide, he slashed them towards the point region.
At one point, Broad was operating with six fielders in front of the wicket on the off-side, but Head still kept penetrating this cordon and finding gaps where there seemed to be none. No wonder after one of these exquisite boundaries through the point region, all Broad could do was shake his head in disbelief.
Unlike his blazing century at the Gabba to kick off the series, this wasn't a kamikaze attack. This was Head holding court against a rather clueless English attack and toying around with them.
Like he does with the Redbacks dressing-room, there's also the sense of freewheeling joy that Head provides his team when he's having one of those days in the middle. And it wasn't surprising to see the entire dug-out filling up with Warner right at the forefront as Head began nearing his century. They rose with the rest of the Hobart faithful to toast his incredible century. And just like that, he chipped a ball to mid-on off the very next delivery. The show was over just like it started, with no real fuss.
Head was brought back into the side this summer after being dropped at the end of Australia's last series against India for being good at "moving the game". With his second game-changing century of the series, he's shown that he could well be the x-factor in the middle that accelerates this Australian Test team towards regaining their dominance as much tougher challenges await.
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