Travis Head softens approach for Ashes quest

Wielding his bat like a cutlass and swinging it with enough gusto to twice be caught at third man against India last summer, Travis Head would not, at first glance, look like an Australian player ideally suited to the subtleties required to bat successfully in England.

There have been numerous similarly swashbuckling Australian talents who never quite cracked it in England, not least Doug Walters and David Hookes, when confronted by slower surfaces and the moving ball. Adding to the difficulty for Head is another matter of more recent history - he is too young to remember Australia winning a series in England, having been seven years old when a team led by Steve Waugh rushed to a 3-0 lead and ultimately a 4-1 final margin in 2001.

"2001, very early days, I probably didn't watch much of it. I was probably asleep most of the time," Head said with a laugh. "Yeah, probably '05 [was first memory]. Obviously the last one, coming to Trent Bridge, I only watched the first couple of sessions.

"I was over here when Ash [Agar] got 98 [in 2013]. I think I was watching it with a mate in the Greek islands. I went to The Oval and watched Smudge [Steven Smith] get a hundred. So I've watched a bit of cricket here. I loved watching India here last year as well. It's a place where you get exciting cricket. So looking forward to get involved with it."

Back in November, Head was discarded from Australia's ODI team at an inopportune time for anyone wanting to go to England for the World Cup - something Head clearly wanted. However, it also provided useful clarity in terms of what his goals should be, something added to when he acquitted himself more than adequately against Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka in his first three Test series - those edges to third man aside.

After the SCG Test, Head was left with some regrets about not finishing off the series well, something he atoned for while striding to a century against Sri Lanka in Canberra in Australia's last Test before the Ashes. Given that two other centurions for that match, Kurtis Patterson and Joe Burns, did not make the final Ashes squad, Head had to have done more work in the interim.

"I think for a long part of my career, I was a bit, not reckless but I took the game on," he said. "But as I've matured a little bit and played a lot more cricket, I've got more of an understanding of how I want to play on different wickets, especially in the last 12 months. Being able to adapt to wickets throughout the country in Australia and over here, and how I adapt my game it has been probably a more mature approach.

"I've taken more time and tried to give myself a chance a bit more than I did when I was younger. As I've played more cricket and got more experience, I've been able to do that, and I found that the other week batting with Wadey [Matthew Wade, for Australia A against England Lions]. It was nice to spend time in the middle, and I've played a bit of cricket over here so I know what to expect. It's about making sure I let them bowl to me, but also making sure that I'm still positive and don't change my natural instincts.

"So when there's a chance to score, score, because we're there to get runs and it can be quite difficult to get runs over here. So when they're on offer we have to make sure we take it, but also making sure we do it for a long period of time."

The battles against India, Jasprit Bumrah in particular, have stuck in Head's memory bank ahead of likely duels with the similarly precise James Anderson, among others. "Looking back at the way I batted in Adelaide and knowing the conditions and not trying to drive the ball, just let the ball come," he said. "I think I did a really good job in Adelaide and Perth of doing that, then got a little bit greedy in Melbourne and Sydney when the wickets were better and I wasn't able to do it for long enough.

"So it was nice to get through to the back end of the summer against Sri Lanka and be able to go out there and do it for a long period of time, to get a big score on a wicket on day one where it still did a bit. I was able to let the ball come, and do all the things I was able to do throughout the summer. It's going to be a real key focus. I understand the England bowlers will put me under pressure and test that patience, I guess. For me, it's about making sure I continue being as positive as I can be and moving the game, but also giving myself the best chance to get big hundreds and to be putting us into great positions."

Alongside Pat Cummins, Head was anointed co-deputy to Tim Paine during the Sri Lanka series, after the roles were passed on from Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Marsh. Anyone thinking this premature, needed only look at how Head had been made South Australia's captain in 2015, aged 21, and followed by building his batting record and consistency while helping the state to a pair of Sheffield Shield finals. He will, in England, be looking for advice from Smith and David Warner, both still barred from formal leadership roles.

"I think I just look back on the captains that I've had - Michael Klinger, Johan [Botha]," Head said. "Just taking little bits out of everyone. I obviously had Steve for a lot of my one-day career, Painey's been fantastic and it was nice to field next to him at first slip in the A tour because I got a great understanding of the way he thought about the game. I think in my first few years, I was trying to find that and probably looked at the job higher than what it was.

"But I think in the last few years I've really taken a good focus, just making sure that my role is no bigger than anyone else's, and just ticking off all the boxes for the boys, and just being there and creating a really good environment. Being really calm and consistent in the way I go about things, and trying to make it as good an environment as I possibly can. That's been my focus and I see that as my role here, making sure that I'm on hand for Painey, that I'm a connection between the group and Painey.

"Making sure we keep a really good environment, and a consistent environment throughout whatever we get throughout the next little period of time. And if games are getting a little bit out of hand, we can make sure that we're calm and in control. So hopefully, I can bring that really levelled environment and level head out in the middle, and try and be a helping hand."

Walters toured England four times without success, and was left out of the 1981 tour. Hookes had only one chance in 1977, and never returned for a Test series. Head, his method so grooved on hard Australian surfaces, will make for a fascinating study on this tour.