Leeds [UK], July 9 : Australian batter Travis Head said that he was well prepared for England's short ball plans against him, though he was not expecting them to bowl short balls at him with the intensity they showed. He also added that he is now able to play pull shot better.
Head played well in tough conditions against a top-class England pace attack in the third Ashes Test at Headingley, scoring a gutsy 77 in 112 balls while wickets fell from the other end. He helped Australia take their lead to 250 and give England 251 runs to win their first Ashes game of the series.
"No doubt it is a challenging thing (Short balls). It is foreign. There is not many periods think we have seen in Test cricket where it has just been (close to) 100 per cent short balls," said Head as quoted by cricket.com.au.
"I was not surprised with the plan. I prepared for the plan and thought it was going to come (but) maybe not to the extent that it did. I feel like if there is anything I am going to leave with from England it might be a pull shot. I feel like as the series has gone on, I have played it better."
"It was the one thing I said to 'Diva' (batting coach Michael di Venuto) when I arrived here. I had a long period of time off, did not touch a bat since India. Going into the World Test Championship (final), it was the one part of my game that I felt just had not clicked yet," he concluded.
His 77-run knock saw Head play some really daring strokes against the pace duo of Mark Wood and Chris Woakes, who were breathing fire. Travis said that he was trying to pick his targets and not be predictable. His knock was pretty similar to Ben Stokes' 80 runs in previous innings as even he went on a boundary-hitting spree.
"I do not think you can pair me and Stokes together. I just tried to pick targets and tried not to get a hole put through me with Wood," he said.
"I just tried to give myself as much space and not be predictable. (Wood) is a challenging bloke to get after, especially in those positions where I am taking most of the strike off him. I thought we worked through it well," he added.
During the match, Head was seen without his trademark moustache, which he revealed became a victim of a clipper mishap just after the second Test at Lord's.
"I have only got the one setting, so I butchered it and now it has come off," joked Head.
Despite his struggles against short ball, Travis has been the third-highest run-scorer so far in Ashes 2023. In three matches and six innings, he has scored 266 runs at an average of 44.33. He has scored three half-centuries and his best score is 77. Head's strike rate is 73.48 in this series.
Coming to the match, England ended the day four at 27/0, with Ben Duckett (18*) and Zak Crawley (9*) unbeaten. They are chasing 251 runs to keep the Ashes alive.
Earlier, Australia was bundled out for 224 in their second innings. Important knocks came from Head (77), Usman Khawaja (43) and Marnus Labuschagne (33). Australia was once reduced to 90/4, but a 41-run stand between Head and Mitchell Marsh (28) and another 41-run stand between Head and Todd Murphy (11) took Aussies lead to 250 runs.
Stuart Broad (3/45), Chris Woakes (3/68), Mark Wood (2/66) were the best bowlers for England. The pace trio helped England get a tight grip on the game. Moeen Ali also took two wickets.
Also, England was in huge trouble in their first innings and was at 87/5 at one point with Zak Crawley (33) being a key contributor at the top. Another Headingley masterclass from Stokes (80 in 108 balls with six fours and five sixes) and important knocks from Moeen Ali (21) and Mark Wood (24 in eight balls, with one four and three sixes) took England to 237. England were trailing Australia by 26 runs.
Pat Cummins, the skipper was the best bowler for Aussies, taking 6/91. Mitchell Starc took two wickets. Mitchell Marsh and Todd Murphy got one each.
England put Australia to bat first and the visitors were bundled out for 263 runs in 60.4 overs. Australia slipped to 85/4, but with a 155-run stand for the fifth wicket between Mitchell Marsh (118 in 118 balls, 17 fours and four sixes) and Travis Head (39 in 74 balls), the Aussies were back on track. But after the dismissal of these two batters, Australia experienced another collapse and was bundled out for 263 runs.
Wood (5/34) was the pick of the bowlers for England. Chris Woakes (3/73) and Stuart Broad (2/58) also bowled really well.
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