While Travis Head cruises, Australia's middle order wrestles with itself

If South Australia premier Peter Malinauskas announced tomorrow that Adelaide was being renamed Travalaide in honour of Travis Head, his campaign to win re-election in March 2026 would be sealed with the stroke of a pen.

Head has become the state's hero and cultural icon. He didn't need a fourth century in as many Tests on his home ground to confirm that status, but he delivered it anyway. It was his first as an opener in Adelaide and his second in this series. His foray to the top is looking increasingly permanent even if he did say after play that it is still a "Test by Test" proposition.

It's hard to think of an Adelaide century easier than this. His first against West Indies in 2022 was fairly stress free, but even then he had to score most of his runs under lights against the pink ball.

England did not threaten him at any stage until he was on 99. There was a deep backward point in place from ball one. He hardly faced a ball that threatened the stumps. Ben Stokes didn't bowl an over. Jofra Archer only bowled 10. He only scored five boundaries in his first 50 off 71 balls. He knocked singles to fielders in the deep and literally walked between the wickets. The fans walked with more urgency to the bar to order another local West End Draught beer. There was a brief bouncer barrage in the last over before tea and Head waltzed inside the line and hooked one of them for six over fine leg.

Only on 99 did England finally bring the field in and cause Head problems. He faced eight consecutive dots and was dropped by Harry Brook at gully. But he finally lofted Joe Root down the ground to ignite state-wide roar for their hero. He took off his helmet and his gloves, dropped to his knees and kissed the Adelaide Oval pitch to only endear himself further to his fellow South Australians, and in his words "to get a rise from his teammates".

His opening partner Jake Weatherald had called him the "most mentally healthy cricketer" he had ever seen, such is the clarity and freedom with which he plays a game that has tortured so many.

"I think it looks different to what it feels," Head said after play. "I want to be the most consistent batter I possibly can be."

"For me, it always has been getting out in the middle and playing the game and feeling the crowd and the expectation and that nervous energy I've always enjoyed. I just like playing the game. So I think that helps in the way, and I have good time doing it."

Weatherald might begrudge Head's mental state today, when his partner appeared off with the fairies in advising Weatherald not to review his lbw when it pitched well outside leg.

But the clarity of Head's mind, and the consistency of his approach, stands in stark contrast right now to two of his teammates in Marnus Labuschagne and Cameron Green.

Labuschagne's 13 off 45 was the type of innings, and the exact mode of dismissal, that led to his axing from the Test team in the middle of 2025. A distinct lack of intent, looking only to defend and leave, and getting into square-on positions on the crease are the exact things that Labuschagne, head coach Andrew McDonald, batting coach Michael Di Venuto and the selectors had been trying to get him away from after dropping him for the West Indies series.

His domestic form this summer, the fluent unbeaten half-century in Perth, riding on the coat tails of Head, and his 65 in Brisbane looked like Labuschagne back to his best.

However, a wasteful dismissal meant an opportunity for a drought-breaking century was missed. A low score in the second when batting under lights with nothing to gain would only have reinforced what he missed out on in the first. Then a really soft dismissal after lunch on day one in Adelaide for 19 off 40 put him in a position in the second where he looked like he was once again batting not to fail.

But fail he did. He nicked off twice, surviving the first because it didn't carry to the keeper but not the second. There was no busyness, no intent. He was consistently squared up and beaten regularly as a result. The ball he got was a good one from Josh Tongue. But it was not as good as he made it look. A better version of Labuschagne would have defended that in a strong side-on position, potentially even dropping it at his feet for a single.

It is only two innings in a summer where he has played well. But the search for his next Test century appears to weigh heavy, given his last one was 37 innings and two-and-a-half years ago.

Green appears to be in a hole much deeper and darker. He has a better record overseas than both Head and Labuschagne in Test cricket and has the best Sheffield Shield career average of all active Australian players.

But in the bright light of Australia's harsh home sun in the months of November, December and January, the only period when most Australian fans watch cricket, Green has shriveled as a Test batter.

The talent is there, but the mental clarity is not. Like Labuschagne, the wastefulness of his dismissals in Perth and particularly Brisbane, which he described as "embarrassing", became burdens in Adelaide. It has resulted in two timid dismissals.

His first-innings chip to midwicket, following his big IPL payday the night before that stood on his back like a gorilla, as he walked in the second innings. Australia were 224 in front on a flat pitch, with England cooking in the sun. Green entered to face Will Jacks and Tongue with two hours of the easiest Test batting available to him, and he only lasted seven balls. He eased off the mark by pushing a gentle half-volley from Jacks through cover. But he edged a similar delivery with a timid push for three. They were his only scoring strokes. He missed a half-volley from Tongue and then nicked an identical delivery next ball. Unlike Head's later offering, Brook held this one at slip.

Green now averages 28.62 at home and just 21 in his last 14 Test innings overall. Even with the caveat that he was Australia's leading scorer in their last two Tests in the West Indies on dicey wickets at No. 3, his returns on better surfaces in easier batting positions arguably look worse as a result.

Pressure is mounting given the public's frustration at his preferential treatment over Beau Webster, who has averaged 34.63 in his last 12 Test innings but has been left out of the first three Ashes Tests. Green's key wicket of Brook with the ball on day two, and his home bowling average of 28.25 only adds further complexity to a puzzling Test career to-date.

One can only imagine how he must have felt as Alex Carey walked out and added an unbeaten 52 by stumps alongside Head who finished 142 not out. Test runs have rarely come easier, even if Head did note that Carey had kept him going as he flagged with fatigue.

Head is a modern marvel, defying nearly every convention in modern professional sport. He confounds opponents time and again. And whilst others in Australia's line-up are making Test batting look really hard right now, Head is making it look like a social game in the backyard with his mates. And that's why he is so loved.