Travis Head shuts down rumour of fractured Australian dressing room

Star batter Travis Head is the latest to respond to allegations of a fractured Aussie side after the first Test hammering against India.

The Australian Test side has again addressed speculation the team is fractured in the wake of the heavy 295-run loss to India.

Pat Cummins’ outfit was comprehensively outplayed by India in the first Test in Perth to pile pressure on the side before summer has even officially begun.

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Veteran fast bowler Josh Hazlewood stoked the flames of a divided dressing room when stating “you’ll have to ask the batters” when asked how the team would approach a massive 522-run deficit after day three at Optus Stadium.

Cummins has since spoken about the furore, declaring this Aussie side is “a really tight unit … probably one of the tightest teams I’ve ever played with”, adding “everyone gets along really well”.

Watch Josh Hazlewood’s comments in the video above

Travis Head and Josh Hazlewood. Photos: AFP/Getty Images

Batsman Travis Head has now spoken about the situation, with the Australian line-up under huge pressure to perform in the second Test starting in Adelaide on December 6.

A number of cricket greats reacted with bewilderment to Hazlewood’s comments and felt it showed there were “cracks” in the dressing room.

Head was keen to dampen that talk.

“I think (people have) picked the bones out of a comment on the back of a poor week, which is fine,” he told 7NEWS.

“It’s OK to be critical, we understand that. We stuck together, had some good conversations, definitely no fractions.

“All the boys hung out together last night.”

Next month’s Adelaide Oval clash marks the return of day-night Test cricket and the pink ball, a format Australia has excelled in to date.

Head was Australia’s best batter in the second innings. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

In 12 day-night matches in Australia, the Aussie side has 11 wins and only one defeat, against the West Indies in Brisbane in January this year.

In Adelaide, it’s a perfect seven from seven victories.

“We play the pink ball well traditionally there and look we’re going to have to,” Head added.

“There’s no hiding behind that, we’ve got to play better.

“Nothing’s guaranteed in this game, but if we work hard, no reason why we can’t turn it around.”

After all the drama that unfolded, it’s unlikely we’ll hear comments similar to Hazlewood’s coming from the Australian camp again.

Speaking after the third day of play in Perth, the 33-year-old was asked Australia’s plan to combat the massive deficit.

“You’ll have to ask the batters that question,” he said.

“I’m sort of relaxing and getting a bit of physio treatment and probably looking mostly to the next Test and what plans we can do against these batters.”

The bowlers had a big workload in Perth. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

While the batters disappointed. (Photo by Paul Kane – Cricket Australia via Getty Images)

Hazlewood’s remarks took the Fox Cricket commentators by surprise as many started to read between the lines.

“That to me tells me there is potentially a divided changeroom,” Adam Gilchrist said on Fox Cricket.

“I don’t know if that’s the case, I might be reading too much into that.”

Michael Vaughan added: “I must admit I’m staggered by that. Publicly I’ve never heard an Australian come out and divide the camp into batters and bowlers.

“There’s 11 batters, that’ll never change. Every single player has to come out and bat.

“I’ve been in many teams and we get it. When the batters are going well and they’re not getting the wicket, you go ‘come on bowlers’. And when the batters are batting like Australia are at the minute, the bowlers say ‘come on batters give us a little bit more time’.

India will take plenty of momentum to Adelaide. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

“To see a player publicly say I’m thinking about the next game before this one is finished … I’ve never ever seen that from an Australian player.”

Indian great Ravi Shastri said the comments showed there were mental cracks appearing within the Australian squad.

“What the Indian dressing room will be thinking when they hear something like that, we know there are cracks on the pitch but I feel there are some mental cracks as well at this moment in time in the opposition,” he said.

“Having come to Australia for 30-40 years, I think this is the first time an Indian team is feeling that ‘you know what, we are better than the opposition in their backyard’.”