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Travis Head, who ruled himself out of the running to
replace David Warner, feels that opening the batting in Test cricket was a
“specialist job”.
Head offered a potentially interesting choice to
replace Warner, who is scheduled to retire following the forthcoming Test
series against Pakistan. Warner is the man who led Australia to victory in the
ODI World Cup with his outstanding batting at the top of the order.
Head coach of Australia Andrew McDonald has suggested
that an exact like-for-like opening hitter match might not be the best option
for replacing Warner. Earlier in the year, Head took Warner’s place in India
after the latter got hurt. Head counterattacked the new ball and averaged 55.75
over five innings.
However, Head stated that he was well-established in
the middle-order, where his daring hitting had flourished over the previous two
years. He thought that Warner’s replacement will probably emerge from the
fringe players, such as Matthew Renshaw, Marcus Harris, and former Test opener
Cameron Bancroft, who all participated in last week’s Prime Minister’s XI match
against Pakistan.
“[Selectors are] happy with me in the middle
order,” he told reporters in Perth ahead of the first Test against
Pakistan starting on Thursday. “I think [opening] it’s a specialist job.
The guys that have been waiting to get into the team for a while deserve the
first crack at it. But the conversations are ongoing with everyone…only one
for me is [opening in] the subcontinent. I don’t see myself moving around too
much in the future.”
Having cemented his place in the team and being the
only member of Australia’s World Cup-winning squad to stay until the end of the
five-match Twenty20 International series against India, Head’s attention
immediately shifted to Test cricket.
Many Australian players chose to participate in the
Sheffield Shield or take a break before the Test summer, as the series was not
without its detractors. However, Head was eager to seize chances at the top of
the order to strengthen his position in Australia’s lineup for the T20 World
Cup in the Caribbean and USA the following year.
“I’m not a lock for that T20 World Cup, so I
wanted to present and try to perform and try and get myself in that team. We
felt like that was the greater opportunity to play the three T20s [than
Shield],” Head said. “We haven’t got many T20 opportunities coming up
over the next little bit, so it was sort of that last chance to press my claims
to make sure that I’m in the mix.”