Head's successful comeback vindicates Australia's gamble

It was as much in what followed as it was in what Travis Head did that you saw why Australia chose to stick with a batter with a broken hand and, in effect, agreed to have a squad of 14 for the first half of the World Cup. If they got lucky, that is.

It is firstly a big credit to Australia's planning that they have front-loaded themselves in a World Cup that has turned out to be one for the frontrunners with the bat. The new ball has not travelled in any World Cup as it has done in this one. The contribution of overs 21 to 30 to totals has been higher than ever. The run rate in the death overs has only just picked up from being the third-slowest of all editions.

Australia probably foresaw this in Pakistan last year and decided they had to start off running and keep on going through the innings because death overs were not going to be a guarantee. They didn't immediately find the personnel for the job, but once Head began to open following Aaron Finch's retirement, things began to fall in place.

Head is a bit of an old-school Australian batter. He loves to hit the ball square, loves to hit it hard, and wears a big moustache in 2023, which is reminiscent of the cold ruthlessness of Allan Border and David Boon. As it probably happens with many a cricketer from states other than Victoria, New South Wales and to an extent Western Australia, Head grew up being hailed as the next big thing in South Australia but had to work hard to carve himself a place in the national side.

"That [opening] has been a spot that I guess I waited for," Head said. "Obviously, with [Aaron] Finchy playing for such a long period and their partnership [Finch and David Warner] being so good, and the limited chance I had I was able to take and sort of waited a couple of years for that spot to open up. That's never guaranteed, and I've got to perform and I'm lucky enough to be able to put a string of a few performances together that hopefully make that a spot where Davey and I have obviously got a great partnership, but [also with] the next guy, whether that be Mitch [Marsh] or whoever."

Once Head did find that spot and role in a stop-start international career, he took to it with utmost earnestness. Since March 2022, which is when Head opened a List A innings for the first time in four years, only Phil Salt has scored quicker than Head's 132 per 100 balls in the powerplay (where data is available). Again, Salt is the only opener who has gone quicker than his overall strike rate of 131. Heinrich Klaasen, Salt and Glenn Maxwell are the only batters quicker than him over this period.

Except that Head has done all this while averaging over 64. No opener in the history of ODI cricket has scored over 1000 runs while averaging over 50 and striking at over 110. It's not difficult to see why Australia would wait for him instead of bringing in another player who would be available through the tournament. It is not that Mitchell Marsh was not doing a good job with David Warner, but Warner and Head have been different gravy despite being two left-hand batters. Of all Australian associations to have aggregated more than 1000 runs, their average of 82.55 and run rate of 6.93 is easily the highest.

For six weeks leading into his comeback, Head has barely had a proper net. On the day before this match, Head batted for about 20 minutes. He got bowled, he got leading edges, and he shanked a few, but did not look in any discomfort. Then again, the pitches in the nets were not great. That hit was enough for him to be confident and give it a whack come match day.

And what whack it was. The third ball he faced ever in a World Cup, Head cleared the front leg and thwacked it over mid-off. Matt Henry's two free hits immediately after was not an invitation he needed, but one he accepted graciously. One of them, a short ball that got up to only about his shoulder, showed that the short ball was not going to challenge him on this pitch. It also exorcised past demons given that it was while pulling Gerald Coetzee that Head broke his hand.

The bowlers did bowl short of a length and looked to cramp him up and take his hands away only for Head to score plenty through midwicket. Anything fuller was just fodder, bringing him 85 runs off 42 balls pitched on a good length or fuller.

Asked if there were any nerves around the hand holding up when facing the quick bowlers, Head said: "There was obviously that part of the mindset I guess leading into the game. There's been little aches and pains throughout. Funnily enough, once we lost the toss and we were batting, the adrenaline pumped up and it felt pretty good."

Head's successful comeback has vindicated the gamble the leadership took by picking him when they knew he would be available for only half the tournament. The value of Head was all the more apparent after he got out, and we realised the pitch was not the batting beauty he made it look like. The new batters kept getting out whenever they tried to force the pace on a pitch that had slowed down. In that light, and also looking at how close New Zealand got with the pitch skidding on in the cool evening under the lights, Head's innings becomes even more valuable.

When they review the match, Australia will probably look at whether the middle order could have done better after the start they were given. It might also push them back to playing either Cameron Green or Marcus Stoinis - the latter if fit - because both Steven Smith and Marnus Labuschagne in the same XI might derail their strategy of aiming for 350 or more every time.

That is for later, though. Right now is the time to marvel at Head's comeback, and anyway, it is he who opens up all these possibilities.