Sydney: Australian big-hitter Travis Head could open in the two-Test series against Sri Lanka where “quick learner” Sam Konstas is also likely to get more opportunities to showcase his audacious skills, chairman of selectors George Bailey has said.
Head, who wreaked havoc with the bat during the recently-concluded Border-Gavaskar series against India in the middle order, has been tested in the opener’s role in the sub-continent.
He had come in for an injured David Warner during the 2023 tour of India and scored 223 runs at 55.75 in five innings at the top of the order.
“Trav’s an option (to open). We’ve got a number of options and there’s been a few preliminary discussions around where that may land, and that may depend on the makeup of that first XI,” Bailey told cricket.com.au.
“I think (head coach) Andrew (McDonald,) and (stand-in captain) Steve (Smith) will settle on that in due course, once we hit Sri Lanka,” he added.
Australia announced a 16-member squad on Thursday with several fresh faces added to the group that played India in the fifth and final Test at Sydney last week. Australia won the marquee series 3-1.
Smith is leading the squad as regular captain Pat Cummins is on leave for the birth of his couple’s second child.
With 19-year-old Konstas turning heads with his refreshing style of batting during the Border-Gavaskar Tests, Bailey said the youngster’s ability to read match situations quickly would help him excel in Sri Lanka, his maiden international tour.
“What we have seen is he’s (Konstas) a quick learner. (He) absorbs a lot of information,” Bailey said.
“So (we’re) expecting him to get to get a lot out of it. I know from his spin play in Australia, and the opportunities he’s (had) in different parts of the world, we think he’s got a game that’s well suited, and a technique that can stand up.
“But that’s one of the exciting things about this tour – we will learn a bit more about his game in different conditions to what he’s just faced in Australia,” he added.
Bailey feels that Nathan McSweeney, who is there in the Sri Lanka-bound squad, handled his exclusion from the last two BGT Tests quite well and he wil remain in the scheme of things despite the unimpressive show as an opener.
The debutant had a trial by fire against Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, failing to put up a decent score in the first three games.
“We still view (McSweeney) as a great Test prospect, and a long-term Test prospect.
“I think at times when someone is left out of a team or squad, there’s a view that they fall out of favour, or down the pecking order, but that wasn’t the case with Nathan,” said Bailey.
“I think it shows the character… and the sort of person he is, the way he responded and spoke so well about (being dropped) publicly pretty soon after it happened.”
