SL vs AUS: Travis Head could open against Sri Lanka, says chief selector Bailey

Travis Head could open the innings for Australia during the two-match Test series in Sri Lanka later this month, chairman of selectors George Bailey said.

“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.

Head, who top-scored in the recently-concluded Border-Gavaskar series against India in the middle order, has experience of batting in the spot in the sub-continent. He had replaced David Warner during the 2023 tour of India and scored 223 runs at 55.75 in five innings at the top of the order.

Australia announced a 16-member squad on Thursday with several fresh faces added to the group that played India in Sydney last week. Smith will captain the side as regular captain Pat Cummins is on leave for the birth of his second child.

The 19-year-old Sam Konstas will remain in contention to make the starting lineup in Sri Lanka after his impressive start against India in the two Tests.

“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 added that Nathan McSweeney, who also found a spot in the Sri Lanka-bound squad, handled his exclusion from the last two BGT Tests well. The debutant had a testing start to his international career against Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah.

“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.”