After a relentless schedule over the past 12 months, Travis Head believes a few weeks of family time on paternity leave might prove optimal preparation for the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy campaign against India.
Since leading Australia to victory in last year’s ODI World Cup Final, Head has been involved in a full home summer and subsequent tour to New Zealand, Indian Premier League, T20 World Cup in the Caribbean, Major League Cricket in the USA and last month’s white-ball sojourn in the UK.
By his calculation, he’s spent around 330 of the past 365 nights somewhere other than in his abode in Adelaide so has welcomed the chance for family time as he and wife Jess prepare for the arrival of a second child in coming weeks.
But the addition of a sibling for two-year-old daughter Milla is also compelling Head to re-evaluate his peripatetic life as a professional cricketer, with an acceptance that time at home will soon present a stronger lure than the endless cycle of travel-play.
“I’ll probably make decisions in the future around family more, and what drives me to play is probably more my family and my teammates,” Head said today in announcing he had signed a one-year BBL deal to remain with Adelaide Strikers.
“I’m not really interested in the individual stuff or where my career might go to, aspirations from an individual perspective.
“I want to provide for my family, I want to play with my mates and I want to enjoy what I’m doing.
“I think I’ve done that really well over the last couple of years.
“I still love playing cricket, I love playing Test cricket and I love playing for Australia and I’ll continue to do that but … I think it’s important to support the family as well.
“I’ve spent a lot of time away this year and a lot falls on Jess at home.
“It’s a very busy schedule (for Australia) next year as well, so it’s hugely important from a family side of things to spend some quality time.
“We won’t get this time back.”
Given the success he’s enjoyed across the past 18 months, it would be understandable if the 30-year-old opted to remain on the treadmill.
He was Player of the Match in Australia’s World Test Championship Final and World Cup triumphs in 2023, his team’s leading runs scorer at this year’s T20 World Cup which saw him installed as the world’s top-ranked T20 batter, and player of the series in the recent five-match ODI series against England.
As one of only a handful of three-format players for Australia, he has earned the break from next month’s three-match ODI Series against Pakistan and isn’t expected to be part of the subsequent T20 campaign against the same opponent.
That will ensure Head enjoys a rare clear break from cricket in the lead-up to the opening NRMA Insurance Test against India at Perth Stadium from November 22, with his preparation for that series yet to be fully finalised.
A decision on whether the left-hander plays a Sheffield Shield match for South Australia prior to the first Test or opts for more tailored practice in Perth will likely be dictated by the baby’s arrival date.
But having felt comfortable at the crease in last week’s Shield encounter with New South Wales at Cricket Central, where he scored 30 and 10 in his first red-ball knocks since the second Test against NZ last March, he won’t spend much of the ensuing weeks in slavish practice.
“I probably won’t hit for the next little bit, I’ll probably just chill,” Head said of his immediate plans for Test preparation.
“I’ve been batting a fair bit and I don’t need it.
“Over the years I’ve worked out I’ve played better sometimes when I’ve had a little bit of a spell from batting.
“I’ll continue to do a bit of work in the gym and run a little bit, so I’ll do that over the next couple of weeks and as I get closer to whether it be a Shield game or going to Perth for prep, I’ll start batting a bit more and start working on things.
“I’m already thinking about it, but I think that mental refresh and walking into the nets … I’m someone who needs energy, who looks forward to batting and who’s excited about batting.
“If I bat every day it will become boring, if that makes sense.
“I’m not built like Marnus (Labuschagne) or Smithy (Steve Smith) who can bat day-in and day-out.
“I want to be excited around the fact of batting, I want to be hungry for runs.
“So I think time away from the (cricket) gear is a good thing, it also helps at home as well.”
Despite spending just an hour and a quarter at the crease across both innings against NSW, Head’s initial unease about how he would re-adjust to red-ball batting were quickly eased.
He felt he moved well into the ball, had good plans against a bowling attack that included his Test teammate Nathan Lyon (who claimed Head’s wicket in the second innings) and, most importantly, felt confident in his return to the longer format.
However, he would not have employed a straighter bat to any of the 62 deliveries he faced at Cricket Central than he proffered to today’s questions about his preferred place in Australia’s batting order.
Now that Steve Smith’s return to the middle-order has been confirmed and all-rounder Cameron Green has been ruled out for the summer as he undergoes back surgery, it seems the sole vacancy is at the top of the order alongside Usman Khawaja.
Head therefore appears to retain his usual berth at number five, and claims his attention will be focused on which of the numerous candidates for the opening role mounts the most compelling case in upcoming rounds of Shield and Australia A matches.
“I think it’s going to be an old-fashioned bat off and I’m looking forward to seeing what everyone thinks over the next couple of weeks,” he said.
“From my side of things, I’ve got no favourite position.
“I’ve only got a position that is best for the team and what the team needs from me.
“I couldn’t care less if I bat (anywhere) from one to seven, if I bat at nine, I don’t care.
“I’ve said that in the past, I just want to play in the Australian cricket team and any position in the Australian cricket team you take.”
