Head’s knock gives Australia 250 to defend and a chance to emulate Benaud’s famous win

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Sixty-two years ago in Manchester, Alan Davidson made a brilliant 77 batting with Australia’s last man, Graham McKenzie, to take a negligible chase for England to 256.

Given those precious runs to defend, Richie Benaud spun through Ted Dexter’s side at Old Trafford to secure the Ashes urn for Australia.

Travis Head went on the attack late in Australia’s innings and gave his team a defendable score.Credit: Reuters

Travis Head is not exactly a cricket historian, but the punchy South Australian performed the Davidson role to perfection in murky light at Headingley, giving his skipper Pat Cummins – the first bowler since Benaud to captain Australia – the chance to claim the Ashes by defending 250 on a pitch still offering plenty of life.

For the first half an hour when play belatedly started after a long rain delay on day three, it looked as though Australia had been dealt the devil’s hand. After sunshine on day two, the cloudy, damp conditions had the ball hooping around for Chris Woakes and Stuart Broad, presaging the rapid loss of wickets.

Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey, Mitchell Starc and Cummins, all went as the ball zipped around in the air and off the seam. At that stage, Australia’s lead was still less than 200.

For much of this series, Head has been pushed onto the defensive by an unrelenting short ball assault, England clearly keen to contain his free-scoring methods.

“I think Travis Head is someone who since he came into the team has really taken his opportunity, and gone ‘This is how I’m going to play’,” England captain Ben Stokes observed before the series. “Him being allowed to go out and play the way he has, he’s been so successful.

“He was so hard to bowl to in Australia when we were there last time because he just threw counter-punches, and those innings he played against us were really hard to bowl to, really hard to set fields to. But we are prepared for that.”

That preparation was revealed to be lots of short stuff and fields set to deny Head boundaries.

For a long time, Head was considered vulnerable to the ball aimed at his stumps, but since being given licence by Cummins to attack, he’s defused that line of attack.

“I feel like if there’s anything I’m going to leave from England it might be with a pull shot,” he said. “I feel like as the series has gone on I’ve played it better.

“I just want to make good decisions around the short ball. I’ve got to score off it, I’m not going to just sit and cop it because, as we’ve seen, there’ll be a whole day of it. If I can take some balls out of them and absorb some pressure, it’s hard bowling bouncers. If I’m doing my little bit it helps.”

His previous significant innings in this series was on day one at Lord’s, when the conditions encouraged England to search for seam movement and swing. And in the first innings here, Head was muted by comparison the rampant Marsh in their early-afternoon partnership of 155.

There was nothing muted, though, about how Head took to Chris Woakes and Mark Wood in the second dig. He was on 34 off 82 balls at the fall of Australia’s eighth wicket (Cummins), then carved out 55 from his final 30 deliveries.

Prince Philip shaking hands with Richie Benaud, the Australian captain, on the 1961 Ashes tour. Credit: PA

Many of them were short as Ben Stokes set the deepest possible field. But Head proved adept both at finding rare gaps for boundaries, and then freeing his arms to clear the rope, and indeed the fence, as the outfielders craned their necks.

“As much pressure that’s in our dressing room … it’s in their dressing room as well,” Head said.

“It’s a huge day in the series tomorrow. So I think it’d be silly for both camps, not to say there’s nerves in the camp. Knowing what we can achieve tomorrow, knowing what England can … there’s a lot on the table.

“There’s a lot to play for, and [it’s] nice that it’s here again; the crowd, the atmosphere. I think it’s fair to say that it’s a nice place to be with the series on the line, and hopefully we can redeem ourselves from [losing in] ’19 at this place.”

Briefly, at least, Stokes was made to feel the way he has confounded several Australian captains, including Cummins in this series.

Conferences and field changes between balls slowed the over rate to a trickle, while Head and Todd Murphy succeeded in rotating the strike so the senior batter could face as many balls as possible.

Eight of Head’s last 10 scoring shots were either four or six, allowing the Australians to squeeze out a lead they will hope to defend on day four, even if Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett made a sprightly start in the sunshine that so often seems to follow them to the crease, reducing England’s day-four target to 224.

Either way, Head’s innings has ensured that for the third Test match in a row, Ashes spectators have been blessed with the likelihood of another classic finish. Perhaps, yes, one drawn in very similar shades to Old Trafford ’61.

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