“Travis Head and JL used to have a real difference of opinion” - Former Australia captain makes huge statement after BGT 2024-25 2nd Test
Former Australia captain Tim Paine has made a startling revelation about the relationship between Travis Head and Justin Langer during the latter's stint as head coach. Paine recalled how efforts were being made to get Head to work on his defensive technique, which did not align well with the explosive batter.
Langer had a four-year run as Australia's head coach after replacing Darren Lehmann. The former player had a mammoth task on his hands to operate without Steve Smith and David Warner during the initial phase of his stint, but it led to opportunities for emerging batters.
One such example was Travis Head, who made his red-ball debut in October 2018. The left-handed batter was dismissed for a duck in his maiden outing but showed immense promise to be a regular feature in the middle-order. He initially played as a conventional batter, but his true counter-attacking and aggressive manner of batting was unleashed at the 2021-22 Ashes, Langer's final major assignment as head coach.
Paine recently revealed how Head was not in agreement with Langer's coaching methods, and wanted to express himself rather than curb it.
“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. 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)," Tim Paine said on SEN Breakfast (via Yahoo Sports).
“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," he added.
Prior to the 2021-22 Ashes, Head held an average of 39.76 and a strike rate of 49.66 in Test cricket. Since then, he has played 31 Tests in the Pat Cummins-Andrew McDonald era, and his average and strike rate have increased to 43.20 and 66.17, respectively.
Travis Head was adjudged Player of the Match in the 2nd BGT 2024-25 Test against India
The left-handed batter has been one of the most consistent batters for Australia in the middle order in the last two World Test Championship (WTC) cycles. He has played some crucial knocks to aid his side's cause, most recent of which, came during the second Test at the Adelaide Oval against India.
Head slammed 140 runs off just 141 deliveries to propel the Men in Yellow ahead in the pink-ball affair, which they eventually won by 10 wickets to level the five-Test series 1-1.