Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne lead Australia to victory in one-day international

Watching Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne wreak havoc with ball and bat against England, you can get lost into imagining them as two exuberant kids having a blast in the backyard.

Australia's Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne take a run during the one-day international against England at Trent Bridge. Picture: AFP

At times while watching Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne go about their cricket, you can get lost into imagining them simply as two exuberant kids having a blast in their backyard. And not two international superstars at the peak of their powers playing integral roles in the Australian cricket team’s success.

Perhaps it’s the way in which both Head and Labuschagne always seem to be having the time of their lives, regardless of whether they’re batting or bowling. So much so that it makes you, the viewer, do the same vicariously. Almost to the extent where you want to grab a bat and a ball and rush to your own backyard for an impromptu game of cricket.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t an option last night, not in the Adelaide Hills anyway, as Head and Labuschagne produced ODI career-defining performances over at Trent Bridge in Nottingham. I was instead huddled up in front of the fireplace watching Australia demolish England in the opening ODI of the five-match series. Even as a constant drizzle outside here provided an eerie accompanying soundtrack through the night.

Like always, the raw enthusiasm and excitement that is inherent in whatever they’re up to on the field, was as eye-catching as their astonishing all-round individual performances. It was the Head-Labuschagne combination with the ball that pulled Australia back into the contest.

And then it was the Head-Labuschagne combination with the bat that put the pin in England’s hopes of defending a total that should have been much bigger if not for the two spinners pulling the rug from under the restless English feet.

For all the dazzling boundaries and the vital wickets in the middle overs on Thursday night, two moments in particular stood out for me that summed up Head and Labuschagne as cricketers. And what makes them so likeable.

England were flying when captain Mitchell Marsh turned to his eighth bowling option in Labuschagne. Sean Abbott had been taken apart and even Adam Zampa in his 100th ODI had been attacked in his early spells. Ben Dwarshius on debut had left the field after only four overs. All while Ben Duckett and Harry Brook were in complete command with England eyeing a total in excess of 350. It took Labuschagne four deliveries to break the partnership, having Duckett caught and bowled before he did the same with Brook in his next over.

But it’s Labuschagne’s facial expressions, the unbridled joy, as he runs towards his teammates, Steve Smith in particular, to celebrate the Duckett dismissal, that takes you into the moment. It’s infectious, much like the energy that he brings to his dressing-room, and what makes him such a popular member of every team he’s a part of. As someone who has spent half his life watching Labuschagne batting and bowling in the nets, I can tell you that what you see on the field is how he’s like in practice sessions as well. Animated, vocal, and losing himself every time he thinks he’s picked up a virtual wicket.

Head’s charm is different though. There is a tinge of insouciance to the way he is on the field at times. At least from the outside. It’s however just the way he is. What really drives him to being so liked by his peers is the honesty and the unmistakeable earnestness to his cricket. He’s the first one to admit that he’s among the most ordinary batters you’ll see in the nets. And like you could last night, it’s the way in which you can hear him admonishing himself for playing an untoward or innocuous shot while he’s in the middle.

“Oh Nooo..” Head was overhead yelling through the stump mic after mistiming a pull-shot that almost resulted in the ball going straight to the fielder near the backward square leg boundary. Another time, you could see him breaking into a wry smile after playing an awkward shot that somehow found a gap through the covers. But it came through the most as he threw both his hands up in the air in mock celebration after finally managing to pierce a gap through the on-side off Will Jacks for a boundary, having been kept to a single run off the previous 14 deliveries he’d faced.

Head’s unbeaten 154 would eventually end up as the highest ODI score by an Australian in England, while Labuschagne would record his best bowling figures, take four catches and produce one of his better 50-over knocks.

At different points in their careers, both Head and Labuschagne have had their white-ball credentials challenged, if not questioned. At the highest level anyway. Head did make an impressive start to his ODI career some seven years ago but then lost favour in the lead-up to the 2019 World Cup. And despite starring repeatedly in domestic one-day tournaments, he had to wait nearly four years to regain his spot. There’s no question of him now having cemented himself as not only Australia’s premier opener but probably the most dangerous white-ball batter in world cricket.

Labuschagne on the other hand had lost his spot as Australia prepared for the 2023 ODI World Cup, and it took an unprecedented spate of injuries for him to even make it to India. Before he went through the entire tournament last year fretting over losing his spot before ending up as a key member of the finals’ victory over India. Now at 30, born six months apart, Head and Labuschagne look set to be the leaders for Australia across formats, and especially in 50-over cricket.

That famous evening in Ahmedabad was the last time before Nottingham that Head and Labuschagne had batted together in an ODI. It was their nerveless partnership that set the stage up for Australia to win their sixth men’s ODI World Cup in the cauldron of the Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium.

But even on the biggest stage of them all, the duo looked like they were just two boys from the backyard living out their dream and having a blast while at it. Like they do always and like did last night at Trent Bridge.