Travis Head might have scripted an all-time classic in Perth last week, but he says he is worried if he riled up England’s pacers at the start of a five-Test series. “I accidentally hit Jofra back over his head for six at one point and calmly walked back and marked centre and was like, ‘Oh my god, why did I just do that?’” he told Triple M radio station.
He said he didn’t want to get on the wrong side of two 150kph bowlers, Mark Wood and Jofra Archer. “I don’t want to get on the bad side of them, especially [in] the first Test. I don’t want to get on the wrong side of these blokes, I just want to go about my business.”
His partner Marnus Labuschagne also stood shocked. “And Marnus came down and was like, ‘I know you’re trying to act cool, but that’s unbelievable’ and he’s yelling and screaming, and he’s hoo hah-ing, and I’m like, ‘Mate, get back to the other end, at any moment they can put a hole through me, they bowl 150 clicks’,” he recollected.
Among the heap of messages he received, he cherishes the one from Adam Gilchrist, whose 57-ball hundred remains the fastest in Ashes. Head reached his hundred in 69 balls, the second fastest. “He messaged me and said, ‘Well done.’ He was very proud. I messaged him back and said, ‘How the hell did you do it quicker? In 50-odd balls?’. He said he got a very tight attack on a very hot day in Perth,” Head said.
Back home in Adelaide, his father almost missed the knock. “Dad was rolling past the TV, going out for dinner, apparently. He saw me walking out to bat, and so he sat there,” Head said. “I think my manager rang him and said, ‘Are you watching this?’ and Dad just bought a house, and he says he’s there drinking a bottle of Veuve…”
A week away for the second Test in Brisbane, Head is aware of England’s bouncebackability, “You’ve got to respect the fact they’ve been a bloody good team, and I reckon they’ve got their plans, they’ve had their plans set, and they’re doubling down. Credit to them, they’re going to live by the sword or die by the sword, and we’ll see where we’re at in Brisbane.”
