Incumbent Usman Khawaja has made his views clear. “Travis Head would be the best fit,” he said last week. “He’s obviously been very successful in opening the batting in one-day cricket… The confidence transfers. When you see the ball well, score a lot of runs and don’t have too much on your mind, it’s a good spot.”
Perhaps it is to understate the difference between the formats. Head faced two white balls instead of one red on Thursday night, on a ground with a boundary less than half that of Australia’s home ground. There are no fielding restrictions in a Test match, and India’s attack was clearly an upgrade over the one England faced in Nottingham.
Head faced two balls from Jofra Archer early in the innings that were almost unplayable, angling around the wicket and then shaping out late from the seam to beat the bat. He was also dropped for a six, Brydon Carse 20 yards from the backward point boundary, and failed to catch an acrobatic effort that leapt over his head again.
But Head has an uncanny ability to shake off the last ball, as shown by his series of play-and-misses against Jasprit Bumrah in Ahmedabad, which still linger in the minds of Indian supporters. At Trent Bridge, he scored 50 runs per ball and gradually accelerated towards the finish line, scoring a 92-ball hundred and a 123-ball fifty.
“It was tough at first,” Head said. “Geoff was too strong for me, I’ve had a couple of experiences with him. Even in the T20s at Southampton, I thought he was an exceptionally good bowler. You have to take the good with the bad… There wasn’t much in the first few overs, so I just tried to back my technique and keep going.”
England have found it extremely difficult to contain Head over the last 10 days. His 90 runs in the T20I series came off just 37 balls and he was ruthless in any width. It is his unconventional technique that presents a challenge. “Sometimes ‘width’ for him can be mid-over and off-stump because he creates that space very well,” explains England coach Marcus Trescosick.
Head has gone through a phase where he looked vulnerable to the short ball, and England had little use for bouncers against him on Thursday night. “We are trying desperately,” Trescothick said. “Eventually the bug will turn.” If he opens in Tests, there is little doubt that India will bomb him with the short ball at some point, especially with no fielding restrictions to worry about.
The biggest potential obstacle is Head himself. He has previously distanced himself from the role, suggesting he should only open in the subcontinent after doing so five times in India early last year, and was cautious when asked about the possibility of changing the order after Australia’s win in Nottingham.
Asked if he was aware of the national media’s speculation, he said, “Yes.” “Don’t babble. It makes it interesting.” Asked if his stance had changed after three hours on the attack and seemingly being eliminated from the competition, he said he played with a dead bat. “I’m not going to delve into it. I’ll just leave it at that.”
Head has given nothing away on and off the field. But as Australia look to find an opening partner for Head in white-ball cricket who can replicate David Warner’s performances, there is a growing sense that Head himself could have the same impact as Warner across formats. Whatever the Australian selectors decide, it could define their home summer.
Matt Roller is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. @mroller98
