Australia’s middle man goes to Head of class

Only one member of the top six from the 2018-19 Australia-India series will play against at Adelaide Oval on Thursday.

Australian batsman Travis Head at Adelaide Oval this week

The Australian batting line-up that will take the field in two days in Adelaide bears little resemblance to the one that took on India here two years before.

But that’s not saying much when you consider it will bear little resemblance to the one selectors thought would take the field two weeks ago.

Only one member of the top six that played the match against India in December 2018 at Adelaide Oval was named in the original squad to play in December 2020.

Two years ago opener Aaron Finch did not see out the series and has not been seen since in the baggy green.

Watch Australia v India Test Series Live & Ad-Break Free During Play with the Fox Cricket commentary team. New to Kayo? Get your free trial now & start streaming instantly >

Usman Khawaja has been waiting to see the name of chief selector Trevor Hohns come up on his phone since the Ashes match at Headingley in August last year.

Shaun Marsh is averaging 90 in the Sheffield Shield but is not in the squad, has not been called into the squad and has not played since the Sydney Test against India in January 2019.

Peter Handscomb has not played a Test since the same game and was not helped in any bid to return by Victoria’s decision to sit out the first two rounds of the Sheffield Shield. His average of 48 in the three innings he played is decent, but the sample size too small for anybody to know if he has turned his ship around.

Marcus Harris was Finch’s opening partner in the 2019 games against India and falls into a grey zone in that he was not included in the original 18-man squad for this series until David Warner damaged his groin.

Don’t feel too bad if you do not recall who the one remaining member of the 2019-20 top six is because he’s one who tends to fly under the radar more often than not.

Not as eccentric as a Steve Smith or a Marnus Labuschagne, not as compelling as a Warner or as divisive as a Marsh. He lives in the fringes of the imagination, but his enduring presence would suggest he is something of a cornerstone.

Travis Head came into the Australian team in the barren days after sandpapergate and made his Test debut in an almost empty stadium in Dubai against Pakistan. His 72 runs in the second innings as part of a 132-run partnership with Khawaja helped save that game. He has been the closest thing to a permanent fixture ever since.

Labuschagne has come and gone a few times, Smith and Warner returned, the aforementioned top order fell by the wayside, but Head has missed only one Test and that was the last of the Ashes.

He matched that 72 on debut in the first game of the 2019-20 Border Gavaskar trophy and followed it with another half century in the first innings at Perth.

Head’s two centuries — a 161 in Canberra against Sri Lanka and a 114 last year against New ­Zealand against New Zealand — have not come against the best attacks. He ticks along at an average of 42.

When the issue of squeezing Cameron Green into the middle order became a hot topic people looked at Head and Matthew Wade in the middle order but could not mount a solid argument to move either. Those that tried focused on Wade.

In fact, the only reason Green looks a chance to play in Adelaide is because Warner is injured and Joe Burns out of form. Wade and Head were not going anywhere.

The team is happy with Head, but it is time he took the next step against a strong opponent and if the reports of his Sheffield Shield form are any guide he may well be about to do just that.

It looked like they were handing out hundreds in the early rounds, but his 171 not out against Tasmania was, according to Tim Paine who was behind the stumps at the time, Head batting at a new level.

He followed it with 151 against Victoria and while he failed in his only complete innings against India in the tour match at ­Drummoyne it was interesting that selectors called on him to captain the side when Paine decided he’d be happy to leave the leading to somebody else so he could concentrate on batting and keeping.

Things, as they might say in the headline, are coming to a head and 2020-21 should prove critical in defining Australia’s No 6.