Fast bowler Mitchell Starc won the player of this Ashes series, but make no mistake, the talisman from hell Travis Head was the man who ripped out England’s heart and served it to them on a silver platter with a cold beer chaser.
With three bizarre centuries spread across the five Tests, Head’s statistical contribution was enormous. He scored 629 runs at an average of 62.9 and a strike-rate of 87.36. But it was the strange and wonderful way in which he scored them that really demoralized England.
Slapshots, hammered hooks, slants over slips, murderous cuts, overhead collisions. Not much of Head’s stroke play is orthodox or endorsed by coaches around the world. But when it works – which happens more often – anything seems possible.
That’s why people love Head. Like many of the sport’s rogue geniuses – Maradona, Campese, McEnroe, Senna – he is fiercely brave, with a brain full of loose threads that can create magic or chaos in equal measure. Rarely has an athlete been given such a wrong name. The head is all heart, a spinning engine full of buzzing nerve endings instead of firing neurons.
In the hazy glow of a 4-1 series victory, it is easy to forget that England were top in the first Test when Head walked to the wicket as a last-minute replacement opener for Usman Khawaja, who had twisted his back on the first day after playing golf on Test night.
Nineteen wickets had fallen, but England then reached 65-1 for a lead of 105 runs. Scott Boland secured a collapse of 9-99, but a total of 205 was formidable as no team had scored more than 172 so far. Not that Head cares about stats or status. “Pink ball, white ball, red ball… what difference does it make?” is what he says.
In a 69-ball blitzkrieg, Head reached the third-fastest century by an Australian since 1877, eventually tonking, tickling and trick-shotting his way to 123 from 83 balls. En route, he put England captain Ben Stokes’ head on a pike with four fours in an over.
In the space of 28.2 overs, England’s Ashes crusade was in ruins and Bazball’s hot air disappeared like a fart in a hurricane, outpaced by Travball’s chaos. Head completed the demolition with 170 in Adelaide and 163 in Sydney this week.
After falling about seven times, a reporter asked if he was grieving for not making it to 200. Head shrugged. “Beggars can’t be choosers… pretty bad stats, right? I’ve had a few chances in this series… I’d rather have the pins up and see how the boys do.”
This attitude is rare. Cricketers are traditionally statistical rats. Steve Smith’s first emotion when he was fired Thursday was anger. Head has something more valuable: the willpower to get into the flow state, but with it the freedom to play without worries. In a stressed world he chooses fun first, a professional who plays like a child in a park.
When he started playing Shield cricket, Head was mentored by the late Phillip Hughes, who referred to cricket as a game of second chances. If you fail in the first innings, there is usually a chance to make up for it in the second. Head made the ‘stones or diamonds’ ethos his credo.
As he rose through the ranks, the Tea Tree Gully prodigy drank a lot of beer and ate a lot of humble pie. For the first five years of his career, pain overshadowed success. He debuted for his state at age 18 and was captain at age 21, the season after Hughes died.
Bleeding into the Test side in 2018, he played 16 consecutive Tests before being banned. Pat Cummins returned for the 2021-2022 Ashes and told Head to stop changing his game to suit the scoreboard and change the game by playing his way. He met England as a new man, smashing 152 off 148 in the first Test and winning the player of the series.
He has since become a cult hero of several memes, famously preparing for the 2023 World Test Championship by partying across Europe with his wife Jess on their honeymoon. Having not picked up a bat for six weeks, Head coolly hit a match-winning 163 and soon after scored 137 off 120 to win Australia the 2023 ODI World Cup.
An Allan Border Medalist in 2025, Head is now one of the faces of the Australian game, setting the tone of the team as the newest opening bat and off the field, as social secretary. Head was South Australia’s youngest ever skipper and is the current Test vice-captain. If Cummins and Smith got sick and the crown fell to him, would he pull his head in?
Australian cricket has traditionally shunned its maverick captains, preferring the safety of statesmen. Ian Johnson on Keith Miller. Steve Waugh on Shane Warne. Do they dare to saddle their wildest horse and rein him in with responsibility? Or might it be wiser – and more fun – to buy him a beer and keep his lightning in the bottle?
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