By Daniel Brettig
Travis Head was missing from Australia’s first losing ODI team in nearly a year on the same day Pat Cummins made his return to bowling on the other side of the globe.
These events may seem unrelated, but they are emblematic of how carefully the world-class pair are being handled by the national selectors.
Travis Head was “sore” and rested from the third ODI in Durham.Credit: Getty Images
Cummins, 31, and Head, 30 – captain and deputy – are Australia’s two most valuable assets. Each are being handled delicately in the interests of keeping them fresh for as long as possible.
Niggles at the outset of a demanding home season are the source of alert, if not alarm; going 3-0 up against England at Durham was weighed against keeping Head’s body from failing him.
Cummins needed some time in the gym and away from the rigours of bowling to return his body to something like its best. A white-ball series against England serves as a good entree for Head, but he needs to be striking the ball just as crisply against India on Boxing Day.
Australia’s coach Andrew McDonald lamented the absence of spinner Adam Zampa and declined to explain the resting of Head after England charged back into the ODI series with a Harry Brook century and a rain-assisted victory.
At the toss, Mitchell Marsh explained that Head was “sore” and was left out as a precaution, but McDonald was less forthcoming after the game.
“He should be right for the next game, I won’t go into that any further but he should be ready to go for Lord’s,” McDonald said of Head.
Earlier this year, Cricket Australia’s team performance chief Ben Oliver kept a close eye on Head’s progress during the Twenty20 World Cup before allowing him to play Major League Cricket in the United States.
At his best, as demonstrated in the England series opener at Trent Bridge, Head is the world’s most destructive batting force. But there has been plenty of discussion by the national selectors about how to keep him that way. Head has struggled so far in the current World Test Championship cycle.
He has a tally of 631 runs at 28.68 with one century – against the West Indies at Adelaide Oval – across 12 matches. Over the previous two years, Head clattered 1389 runs at 55.56 in 18 Tests, with four centuries, including a sparkling innings against India in the World Test Championship final at the Oval.
With Head and Zampa out, England had the better of the conditions after winning the toss and dominated in the run chase, ending Australia’s 14-game winning streak in ODIs, ahead of their return to Lord’s for the first time since last year’s dramatic Ashes Test.
Harry Brook plays a pull shot during his innings.Credit: Getty Images
No two players have been more pivotal to Australia’s white-ball success than Zampa and Head, and their unavailability had a clear impact. Without Head at the top of the order, Australia managed just 41 runs from the first 10 overs of the innings in seaming conditions, before recovering to post 7-304.
In defence of the target, Mitchell Starc struck twice with the new ball, but with no Zampa to break the rhythm of the England batters, Brook (110, 94 balls) forged match-winning stands with Will Jacks (84) and Liam Livingstone (33) to put his side well in front on run rate when rain ended the game.
They would not have been chasing anywhere near that many without Alex Carey’s second substantial contribution in as many matches. After the personal toll of the abuse he faced after Jonny Bairstow’s Lord’s stumping, Carey has returned to his crisp and proactive best with the bat, putting pressure on a convalescing Josh Inglis.
Starc had the new ball swinging and defeated Phil Salt then Ben Duckett within four balls in the third over of the innings. But with Test captain Ben Stokes looking on at his home ground, Brook sculpted a sublime first ODI century.
There was a sameness to the Australian attack without Zampa or Head to change things up, with only Hazlewood and Hardie able to put a clamp on the scoring rate for any protracted period.
With two games to go, McDonald and selector-on-duty Tony Dodemaide must make another calculation that weighs up the present and the future: do they hand ODI debuts to Cooper Connolly and Mahli Beardman, the two youngsters on tour essentially as project players?
Stokes, meanwhile, has indicated that he would return to the white-ball team should new coach Brendon McCullum ask him to, after McCullum took over as all-formats mentor of the England side.
“He’s an incredible coach who speaks with utter commitment, and it’s nice to have all three teams now with the … philosophies,” Stokes told Sky Sports. “If I get the call … then obviously, it’s definitely going to be a yes.”
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