Test debut could loom for Head: Gillespie

Yorkshire coach Jason Gillespie believes Travis Head is ready to make the step up to Test cricket after the young batsman had his stint with the county cut short to join Australia's touring party in Sri Lanka.

And Gillespie believes the urgent manner in which Head was whisked away from the lush north of England to humid Colombo with little warning suggests he's in the frame to make his Test debut in the third Test against Sri Lanka.

Quick Single: Head added to Sri Lanka squad

The 22-year-old is, at this stage, just a late call-up for the one-day internationals that follow the Test series, and hasn't been added to Australia's official Test squad, a point Darren Lehmann was quick to point out.

"He's a young player who has the attributes we think are quite important here," Lehmann said of Head on Sunday.

"We want to give him as much experience, because he's a young guy who's had some success.

"He hasn't had enough international exposure and we think it's a really good time to do that, with an eye on the future as well.

"We've been impressed with him. That's why he has come in a bit early. It's only a couple of days earlier than the one-day squad."

Quick Single: Lehmann mulls third Test changes

But, with Sri Lanka holding an unassailable 2-0 lead going into the final Test, Gillespie thinks Head's presence training with the embattled Australia side could tempt national selectors to hand him a Baggy Green for the dead rubber.

"I know Cricket Australia have said that he's getting over there just for the one-dayers," Gillespie, who also coaches Head at KFC Big Bash League side the Adelaide Strikers, told cricket.com.au. "But he must be an outside chance of making his Test debut as well.

"The speed in which they've got him over to Sri Lanka – maybe I'm looking into it too much – but it gives the selectors options to potentially play him in the Test match."

Head's call-up comes on the back of a breakout 2015-16 campaign.

The South Australia captain was named the Sheffield Shield player of the season, scoring three hundreds and 721 runs, leading the Redbacks to their first Sheffield Shield final appearance in 20 years.

Head also made his Twenty20 International debut against India in January while he earned a maiden ODI cap during Australia's Caribbean tri-series in June.

The left-hander has impressed in his short stint with Yorkshire, striking a rapid 139-ball 175 in a one-day game against Leicestershire and notching a half-century in his only first-class match for the county.

Far from being disappointed at losing his star overseas signing, Gillespie thinks Head can thrive at the highest level.

"You always know when you get an overseas player, if they perform, there's a chance they'll get called up for their country," the 71-Test former Australia fast bowler said.

"It's a deserved call-up and I look forward to seeing him to do well.

Quick Single: Batsmen could learn from the Hayden way

"I've got no doubt he can play Test cricket and be successful at it.

"He's a great kid and he's got a thirst for striving to get better. He's looking to learn each and every time he goes out to play or train.

"He's got a got a good, sound technique and more importantly, he's got the temperament to play Test cricket.

"I think he can be a real success if given that opportunity."

Considering Sri Lanka's spin-bowlers claimed 35 of the 40 Australian wickets to fall in the first two Tests and similar conditions are expected to greet Australia when they tour India next February, finding batsmen equipped to deal with skilled slow bowlers on turning tracks is seemingly a greater priority than ever for national selectors.

And if Head is to debut at Colombo's Sinhalese Sports Club, Gillespie is confident he can handle the threat of Sri Lanka's tweakers. 

"He looks really good when he's looking to strike the ball down the ground particularly (against spinners)," added Gillespie, who famously scored a double-century on the subcontinent against Bangladesh in 2006.

"He plays shots all around the wicket, he can sweep and he can rotate the strike.

"They're the things you need to do against spin."

In an interesting twist of fate, Gillespie has signed Jake Lehmann, Darren's son and another promising South Australian left-hander, as Head's replacement for the rest of the England domestic season.