Last Updated on 12 months by Charbel Coorey
Travis Head is considered a chance of featuring in Australia’s crucial World Cup clash against the Netherlands on Wednesday (October 25). Head, who suffered a fractured hand in Australia’s tour of South Africa last month, has now joined the squad and is in contention for selection given he has been training in the nets.
However, whether Head plays depends on how he pulls up from Monday’s net session. He faced pace and spin as per normal after facing sidearm throw downs from coaches in the nets at Delhi over the weekend. Cricbuzz journalist Bharat Sundaresan said that Head looked pretty comfortable.
“I could bat for a whole session against quicks and spin and feel a million bucks, or I could hit the first ball and not feel great,” Travis Head said earlier in the week.
“I’ve got confidence in the medical staff to be told that the bones are healed. There’s stiffness and some of the pain. You can deal with it as long as I’m not doing any damage to it and I’ve got the confidence to know that I’m not doing damage to it, so a little bit of pain is OK.”
Australia’s possible XI vs the Netherlands: Travis Head is a chance of playing, but Australia cautious of rushing him back
1. David Warner, 2. Travis Head, 3. Mitch Marsh, 4. Steve Smith, 5. Marcus Stoinis, 6. Josh Inglis (wk), 7. Glenn Maxwell, 8. Pat Cummins (c), 9. Mitchell Starc, 10. Adam Zampa, 11. Josh Hazlewood
Travis Head’s inclusion depends on how he pulls up from Monday’s net session. If he is cleared to play, he will open the batting despite Australia’s record opening stand against Pakistan, as confirmed by selector George Bailey. In that case, Marnus Labuschagne is most likely to make way, with Mitch Marsh to move to three and Steve Smith to four.
Bailey also said that while Head is chance of playing, Australia will be cautious. “If it works out that it’s the Dutch game, great. If it’s a little bit further on, then that’s okay,” he said.
Coach Andrew McDonald, however, said the team management is optimistic Head will play. “We’re really optimistic that Travis Head will be available should all things go well today [Monday] and as I said, most importantly, the way he pulls up tomorrow will be a key factor,” said McDonald.
“We’ll just wait and see what it looks like in terms of the Netherlands, if Head is fit.”
Head has been outstanding in ODIs since the start of 2022. He has made the opening position his own in this period, smashing 791 runs at an average of 60.8 and strike rate of 119.8. This includes an impressive five fifties and two hundreds in 15 completed innings (excluding his 17* retired hurt against South Africa).
The rest of Australia’s XI is set, pending any injury or illness concerns. Adam Zampa, who was battling back spasms last week, produced two outstanding performances against Sri Lanka and Pakistan respectively, taking four wickets in both matches.
If Australia beat the Netherlands, it will mark their third-straight victory after a horror start where they lost convincingly to India and South Africa.
