Travis Head's bold knock defies 'baffling' England attack

Travis Head has kept Australia's hopes of winning the Ashes series at Headingley alive with a courageous second innings knock of 77, after rain delayed the start of play for several hours on day three. England have a target of 251 to win, making it to stumps without loss for 27.

Save for Usman Khawaja's 43, none of Australia's top order was able to make a truly meaningful contribution in the second innings, but England's attempts to exploit Head's weakness to short-pitched deliveries backfired on them. Despite the conditions being highly favourable to swing, the hosts peppered Head with bouncer after bouncer - a tactic that has worked twice already this series.

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The 29-year-old was up to the task though, not taking the bait and occasionally playing some confident pull shots to the boundary. As his innings wore on, England's approach began to be questioned by some former Test stars.

England's Eoin Morgan was one, saying he was 'baffled' that England weren't attacking the stumps and pads in what he considered 'perfect' conditions to do so under lights. Chris Woakes opened the day's play with a short ball and it set the tone for the rest of Australia's innings, leaving Morgan somewhat surprised.

“I’m really baffled by this plan,” Morgan said. “Perfect bowling conditions, the lights are on.

“It can be a balance of both given the context and importance of breaking this partnership (with Mitch Marsh)."

Marsh would soon depart for 28, unable to replicate his first innings heroics, but Australia's tail did enough to help Head set a defendable total for Australia. Morgan remained critical of the short-pitched approach from England regardless.

“Conditions are all in England‘s favour,” Morgan added. “I understand why they are going with the short ball, but look at the level of swing we have seen just in this small period. Shadows are down.”

Travis Head makes mockery of Test great's 'power' claim

Head's innings wasn't without his critics however. As the Australian tail came into play, Sri Lankan great Kumar Sangakkara suggested Head lacked the 'power' to clear the boundary line in a similar fashion to how England's Ben Stokes and Mark Wood were able to when England faced a similar situation in their first innings.

“Not sure how many sixes he can hit … you need power (and) Travis Head doesn’t have as much power as Ben Stokes," Sangakkara said. Almost as if he could hear those comments, Head immediately began finding the boundary with some degree of regularity.

He added 56 runs late in the innings alongside the likes of Todd Murphy and Scott Boland, an admirable effort from the two tail-enders. Not one to double-down on his point, Sangakkara credited Head for finding a way to score.

“We can talk forever about his problems with the short ball, but he still finds a way to score runs,” he said on Sky Sports. “Every single time. They go at his body, they go down the leg side, they go at his head, Travis Head still scores runs. Something to be admired.”

But the situation could have been far worse if not for Head and his 77 against an England attack that had Mark Wood firing and Chris Woakes (3-68) taking wickets. Marsh and Alex Carey were both out trying to leave, and when Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins fell for 16 and one respectively, Australia were at risk of setting a target of below 200 before Head managed to steady the ship.

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Playing a Stokes-like innings, the counter-attacking left-hander managed the strike and targeted the boundaries despite England having nine men on the ropes. He hit seven fours and three big sixes that sailed over the legside and well into the crowd before he finally perished in the deep to Stuart Broad (3-45).

With Murphy (11) at the other end, Head helped put on 41 for the ninth wicket and then another 13 for the final stand with Boland. "I don't think you can pair me and Stokes together," Head quipped.

"I just tried to pick targets and tried not to get a whole put through me with Wood. I tried to give myself as much space and not be as predictable.

"He's a challenging bloke to get after, especially in those positions where I'm taking most of the strike off him. I battled through (the short stuff) today for periods and then was able to try to put some pressure back on them at the end there.

"Ideally I would like to have still added a couple more, but I feel like we're in a position where we've got an opportunity to win a Test match."

Head said Australia were desperate to avoid a repeat of the 2019 Ashes Test at Headingley, in which Stokes powered England to an unlikely victory alongside tail-ender Jack Leach. Twice they had opportunities to dismiss him and win on that occasion, denied by a flubbed run-out opportunity and an unsuccessful LBW shout which, had they any decision reviews remaining, would have won them the match.

"This game has ebbed and flowed," Head said. "As much pressure that's in our dressing room, it's in their dressing room as well. It's a huge day in the series tomorrow.

"Knowing what we can achieve tomorrow. Knowing what England can pull, fighting back to try and go 2-1. There's a lot on the table. There's a lot to play for. Hopefully we can redeem ourselves from 2019 at this place."

With AAP

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