Australia vs Sri Lanka: Travis Head vindicates Michael Hussey's words
In recent times, Australian cricket has been in a tricky phase. The Sandpaper gate incident aggravated the matter as it resulted in a lengthy ban for both Steve Smith and David Warner. Australia has had to introduce many youngsters due to the absence of the two giants.
While some have been failures, others have blazed a ray of hope. Travis Head is one of those who has delivered. He made his Test debut against Pakistan in the UAE and was part of the Australian team for the Border-Gavaskar trophy against India, followed by a two-match Test series against Sri Lanka.
Before the start of the Border-Gavaskar trophy, there was uncertainty over a few places in the Australian playing eleven, with Travis Head also in the fray for a spot in the middle order.
On the eve of the first Test, Michael Hussey, in an interview with the Fox Sports, said that Australia should place trust in Travis Head. Hussey had picked Head over Peter Handscomb, saying that the former showed some positive signs in the UAE.
On the back of a great debut series in the UAE where he was among top performers in pulling off a memorable draw at Dubai in the first Test, Head continued to do well and became second top run-getter for Australia in the series against India.
In the recently concluded Test series against Sri Lanka, Head was prolific, scoring 304 runs in three innings with one century and two half-centuries as Australia demolished the visitors comprehensively 2-0. Head has scored 663 runs in eight Tests so far in his career, averaging 51 with one century and five half-centuries in 14 innings.
Now, the 25-year-old South Australian has good numbers under his belt. Since his debut in Test cricket, he has been by far the best Australian batsman. Recently, he became the first South Australian to score a Test hundred since Jason Gillespie in 2006. With the ban of Steve Smith and David Warner is ending in a couple of months, there will be a reshuffling in the batting order as soon as they return to the team.
Since the Test series against Sri Lanka was the last Test assignment for Australia before The Ashes 2019, starting in August, Travis Head would be looking towards the opportunity in the Sheffield Shield Tournament where South Australia is set to play four more games.