Travis Head could open the innings for Australia during the two-match Test series in Sri Lanka later this month, chairman of selection George Bailey has said.
“Trav is an option (to open). “We have a lot of options and there have been some initial discussions about where that might be, and that may depend on the composition of the starting eleven,” Bailey said. cricket.com.au.
“I think (head coach) Andrew (McDonald) and (stand-in captain) Steve (Smith) will sort this out in due course when we get to Sri Lanka,” he added.
Head, who top-scored at middle order in the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar series against India, has experience of spot batting in the subcontinent. He replaced David Warner on the 2023 tour of India and scored 223 runs at 55.75 in five innings to top the order.
Australia announced their 16-man squad on Thursday, with several new faces joining the group that played India in Sydney last week. Smith will captain the side while regular captain Pat Cummins is on leave due to the birth of his second child.
19-year-old Sam Konstas will continue to fight for a place in Sri Lanka’s starting lineup after an impressive start against India in two Tests.
“We have noticed that he (Konstas) learns quickly. (He) absorbs a lot of information,” Bailey said.
“So (we expect) him to get a lot out of it. From his spin game in Australia and the opportunities he has had in various parts of the world, we think he has a well-matched game and technique that can hold up.
“But that’s one of the exciting things about this tour – we’re going to learn a little bit more about how he plays in different conditions than what he just faced in Australia,” he added.
Bailey added that Nathan McSweeney, who also found a place in the squad heading to Sri Lanka, had coped well with being ruled out of the last two BGT Tests. The debutant had a difficult start to his international career against Indian pace leader Jasprit Bumrah.
“We still see (McSweeney) as a great Test prospect and a long-term Test prospect.
“I think sometimes when someone gets left out of a team or a squad there’s a notion that they’re going to fall out of favor or fall down the pecking order, but that wasn’t the case with Nathan,” Bailey said.
“I think it shows the character… and what kind of person he is, the way he reacted and spoke so well about (being dropped) publicly shortly after it happened.”
