Batting dynamo Travis Head had only a short net session on Tuesday as he battles fitness issues ahead of the Boxing Day Test.
On a day when Head, nursing a quad issue, was expected to prove his fitness, the South Australian slugger took only 25 minutes of throw-downs from assistant coach Brad Hodge on the first of four pitches the Australians could use in the MCG nets.
Travis Head during his short net session on Tuesday.Credit: Getty Images
He then had a brief chat with team coach Andrew McDonald and physiotherapist Nick Jones before leaving in what onlookers agreed was a disappointed, even frustrated, manner.
It was an unusually short session for Head compared to his top-order teammates, who typically work their way through the four nets.
One net featured pace aces Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins and frontline spinner Nathan Lyon, in which they battled Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne, two batsmen struggling for form. Khawaja nicked off to Starc and Cummins in an intense workout.
Head had earlier completed catching drills on the MCG but with minimal running. He had bypassed batting in an optional training session on Monday, but team management said he had completed running drills and gym work.
McDonald will provide an update on Head’s fitness on Tuesday afternoon.
Australia are desperate for Head to play in the crucial fourth Test, beginning on Thursday, as he is the only local batsman to consistently fire this series, with centuries in Adelaide and Brisbane. With the series locked at 1-1, he is pivotal to the home team’s hopes of reclaiming the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the first time in a decade.
Should Head not play, the uncapped Josh Inglis, the spare batsman in the touring squad and an aggressive middle-order batter, shapes as the likely replacement. Like Head, Inglis can turn a game with brutal strokeplay.
Another consideration would be all-rounder Beau Webster, although he has joined the squad predominantly as cover for Mitch Marsh. Webster can bowl medium-pace and, if required, off-spin.
Marsh has had a disappointing campaign to date, but worked diligently on his batting. However, it remains questionable whether the all-rounder can carry even a moderate bowling load because of the threat of back soreness. On Tuesday, he bowled off his full run in the nets.
Teenage sensation Sam Konstas was in good touch in the nets and appears set to become the fourth-youngest Test debutant in Australian history. Konstas has replaced the axed Nathan McSweeney, declaring he is ready to partner Khawaja at the top of the order where he will face the challenge of negating Indian superstar Jasprit Bumrah on a pitch curator Matt Page says will aid fast bowling.
