Head prepared to open again for Australia

BRISBANE:

Australia's Travis Head says he is prepared to open the batting once more against England during the ongoing Ashes series after his second innings display in the first test in Perth last week led the home side to an eight-wicket victory over the tourists.

Head smashed a century in 69 balls, the second fastest in Ashes history, on his way to a match-winning 123 runs after being drafted in as a late replacement for Usman Khawaja, when the regular top-order batter was unable to take to the field.

"I'm preparing for anything at this stage," said Head upon his arrival in Brisbane on Sunday ahead of the second test, which starts on Thursday.

"There's a fair bit to work through. But I've just got here and we haven't had many conversations in the last week. It's about spending some time out of the game, as much as you can.

"I'm just preparing for each test to play the best way I can, and wherever I line up I'm happy. If that's what's needed to win a test match and that's what's required, yeah I'm fine with it."

The Australians went into the five-test series with question marks over their opening batters, and debutant Jake Weatherald was the latest to struggle, losing his wicket to Jofra Archer with the second ball of the first innings.

But Head believes his performance in the second innings underlined the need for test teams to be flexible with their batting line-ups and to adopt the approaches used in the shorter forms of the game.

"I feel I can play in any role, so I'm open to (opening), and it's just trying to work out in-game and in moments when you may use that," he said.

"But I think all options are on the table and have been for a long period of time, about where the team can potentially get better and where there's opportunities to potentially win games of cricket in moments. I think it's always been on the table.

Head said batting orders are "slightly overrated".

"But the traditionalists will say that's how it's got to be," he said.

"It's ever evolving and we'll see where we get to."

 

Root ready for pink-ball

England batter Joe Root said he is confident of rediscovering his scoring touch and backed the team to embrace the challenge of their next pink-ball test against Australia after a drubbing by the hosts in the Ashes series opener.

England take on Australia in Brisbane from Thursday looking to respond strongly to their eight-wicket defeat inside two days in Perth, where Root was dismissed for zero in the first innings before falling for eight in the next.

"It's pretty disappointing in terms of the numbers," Root told reporters on Sunday.

"First innings, I thought it was a good ball. It's one of those things you can get early on. You've got to try and find a way to get through that phase when it's tricky at the start.

"And then second innings I thought my tempo was really good, made one mistake. You play a miss at that or it goes between the keeper and it slips for four, you never think of it again.

"I think it's having a bit of realism, understanding, yes there are things that I might have done differently if I get an opportunity again, but also it's not the end of the world."

Former England captain Root has now gone 29 innings without a century against Australia in test matches Down Under, sparking criticism of his form, but the 34-year-old had no doubt about his ability to score again.

"I'm making sure I'm clear on how I want to construct an innings against the pink ball in these conditions, against this attack," Root added.

"That's what this week's about ... just readying yourself as best as possible, having good conversations around things on how we can work together and build those big partnerships that are going to set up games for us."

Australia have won 13 of their 14 day-night tests with their only loss coming at the Gabba last year against West Indies, and Root questioned the need for a pink-ball Ashes test.

"It's very successful and very popular here," Root said.