‘Be brave’: Aussies mull radical batting experiment
Australia will consider taking the drastic step of changing its batting order mid-Test match to combat its selection dilemma at the top for the Sri Lanka series.
Travis Head and Sam Konstas arrived in Galle seemingly locked in a battle to partner veteran opener Usman Khawaja for the first of two matches beginning on January 29.
Teenage swashbuckler Konstas is the incumbent and helped seal Australia’s first series win over India in a decade with valuable contributions across his first two Test matches.
Australia’s middle-order aggressor on home soil, Head averaged 55.75 runs as David Warner’s injury replacement during the final two and a half Tests on the last subcontinent to India in 2023.
“I don’t know where I’m going to bat at this stage,” Head said ahead of Monday’s main training session for the first Test.
“We’ll see how that wicket plays out over the next couple of days.”
But Head revealed Australia had been discussing the prospect of shifting its batting order mid-game if pitch conditions called for flexibility.
Questions remain as to how much spin will be on offer from day one in the Test matches, with the pitch playing very differently in Galle across Australia’s last two visits in 2022 and 2016.
South Australian veteran Head is more experienced in Asia than Konstas, who is embarking on his first subcontinent Test tour, but has not always been able to make the best of turning wickets.
Head said when it came to the opener debate, Australia may be able to have its cake and eat it too.
“It’s been a topic of conversation for the last little bit in this team on whether the Australian first innings, second innings, why doesn’t the order change?” Head said.
“Why can’t we be flexible? What moves? How can we be brave?
“That hasn’t played out as such yet. Is this the tour to do it? We’ll wait and see.”
The current Australian team has often changed its batting order mid-game to deploy a nightwatchman, usually Nathan Lyon, but a premeditated mid-game switch would be unprecedented.
But in the era of Konstas reverse-ramp shots and booming support for Test cricket, Head feels the time is ripe for change.
“The game is evolving, so why not continue to see where we can make jumps and leaps and where can we get an advantage?” he said.
“If that’s using people in different positions, it’s not traditionally done a hell of a lot … (but) this team’s experienced enough and in a great position where players will be open to that if needed to be.”
Head averaged 7.7 runs at his usual No.5 spot across Australia’s last visit to Sri Lanka – the worst figures for any bilateral series of his 54-match Test career.
His subcontinent form was so dire that Head found himself dropped for the start of the 2023 India series, despite shining against the West Indies and South Africa in the previous home summer.
Head returns to Sri Lanka ready to play with his trademark positive intent regardless of his position in the order, admitting the last tour to Sri Lanka was one to forget.
“I wasn’t pleased with the way that tour went,” he said.
“I did go through a bit of a transition here and in Pakistan last time, tried to play a bit more traditionally.
“That (2023) Indian series was one which could have gone one way or the other. I don’t play well and I probably never see a subcontinent tour again.
“Or I go out there and do what I’ve been doing the last couple of years and go out there a little bit more relaxed.
“So I’ll draw on that.
“I feel comfortable wherever I need to be to win the Test. I ain’t bothered where I bat anymore. I haven’t been for a while.”
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