Star Australia batter Travis Head is open to the idea of opening again in the second Test of the Ashes 2025–26 in Brisbane if that is what is required to win a Test match for his team. Head was promoted to open in the absence of Usman Khawaja during the second innings of the first Test in Perth.
The southpaw bludgeoned a breathtaking 123 off 83 balls to make light work of Australia’s tricky chase of 205 runs in the fourth innings. Following his match-winning century, Head said that he is ready to open again in the pink-ball Test in Brisbane, beginning on 4 December. His comments come amid uncertainty over Khawaja’s availability for the second Test due to his fitness concerns.
“I’m happy. If that’s what is needed to win a Test match and if that’s what’s required then, yeah, I’m fine with it. I’m preparing for anything at this stage. There’s a fair bit to work through. I’ve just got here. We haven’t really had many conversations over the last week. It’s been about just spending some time out of the game as much as you can. You don’t get much time to chill out in a massive series like this, where it’s pretty full-on every single day,” Head was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
The 31-year-old also echoed Pat Cummins’ view about the batting order, who termed it as ‘overrated’ and said that the Australian batting order can be reshuffled as per the demands of the game.
“I agree with Pat. I think you could use this order and these players in a range of different ways, and whatever way that is to win games of cricket. We’ve seen it in red-ball [Tests], but particularly probably pink-ball [Tests] as well. Non-traditional stuff, with double nightwatchmen, how you use orders, and how you use players in certain situations. So I agree with Pat that I think they’re slightly overrated. It’s ever-evolving, and we’ll see where we get to,” he added.
Meanwhile, Australia will head into the second Test with a phenomenal record in day/night matches in the longest format. Out of 14 day/night Test matches played in their history, Australia have won 13 and lost just on one occasion, against West Indies in 2024.
The hosts will continue to remain without their captain Pat Cummins, who will miss the second Test due to back stress concerns. On the other hand, England will be without Mark Wood, who is reportedly ruled out due to a knee injury.
