Travis ready for ODIs with full Head of steam

Travis Head will head into the Gillette ODI series with renewed confidence after a match-winning half-century returned the Adelaide Strikers to the top of the KFC BBL table on Tuesday night.

Head's rapid-fire 53 from 32 deliveries set up the Strikers chase as they ran down the Stars' 6-151 with eight wickets in hand, in what was his last appearance for the club before he joins the Australian ODI squad in Melbourne on Wednesday.

He was handed a life on 17 when Stars captain John Hastings put down a catch that carried over the boundary rope for six, making the most of the second chance to post his first half-century of BBL|07. It followed scores of 36, 29, 13, 44 and 12.

"I had a few starts and a couple of silly mistakes in the first couple of games and then just some poor execution in the last couple," Head said after play on Tuesday.

"I've been a little bit disappointed with how I've played, I've got starts and the first time I've tried to accelerate I haven't been able to get it right.

"So tonight it was nice to have a little bit of luck, but I am hitting the ball nicely and getting to the stage where I'm playing really well, so it was nice to capitalise a bit tonight.

"I was disappointed not to get not out and win the game, but nice to get a personal score and to get us over the line in my last game, because I hadn't done much prior to tonight."

Australia are set to announce an ODI squad replacement for the injured Chris Lynn ahead of Sunday's opening ODI at the MCG.

Among the candidates for the position is Stars allrounder Glenn Maxwell, a surprise omission from the initial squad announced last week, with Maxwell issuing a timely reminder to selectors in the form of a 39-ball 60 on Tuesday.

"We'll have to see what happens, Maxwell's not in the squad at the minute and I know he's disappointed," Head said.

"It's great to have such a strong (Australian) batting line-up, the guys are in form at the minute.

"We've got Mitch Marsh coming back in, who's hitting Test hundreds, everyone is demanding their spot which is fantastic for Australian cricket."

Head leaves the Strikers with the club sitting on top of the table with five wins from six matches.

South African import Colin Ingram will take over the captaincy in Head's absence, with their next outing a top-of-the-table clash against the Perth Scorchers in Alice Springs on Saturday.

"We didn't play great last year so it's nice to be back on top and hopefully I've left the boys in a good state, I'll be watching closely.

"I haven't done a great deal so I don't think they'll miss me too much."

2017-18 International Fixtures

Gillette ODI Series v England

Australia ODI squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine, Jhye Richardson, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa.

England ODI squad: Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Tom Curran, Alex Hales, Dawid Malan, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.

First ODI MCG, January 14. Tickets

Second ODI Gabba, January 19. Tickets

Third ODI SCG, January 21. Tickets

Fourth ODI Adelaide Oval, January 26. Tickets

Fifth ODI Perth Stadium, January 28. Tickets

Prime Minister's XI

PM's XI v England Manuka Oval, February 2. Tickets

Gillette T20 trans-Tasman Tri-Series

England T20 squad: Eoin Morgan (c), Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Tom Curran, Liam Dawson, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Dawid Malan, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, James Vince, David Willey, Mark Wood.

First T20I Australia v NZ, SCG, February 3. Tickets

Second T20I Australia v England, Blundstone Arena, February 7. Tickets

Third T20I Australia v England, MCG, February 10. Tickets

Fourth T20I NZ v England, Wellington, February 14

Fifth T20I NZ v Australia, Eden Park, February 16

Sixth T20I NZ v England, Seddon Park, February 18

Final TBC, Eden Park, February 21

2017-18 International Results

Magellan Ashes Series

First Test Australia won by 10 wickets. Scorecard

Second Test Australia won by 120 runs (Day-Night). Scorecard

Third Test Australia won by an innings and 41 runs. Scorecard

Fourth Test Match drawn. Scorecard

Fifth Test Australia win by an innings and 123 runs. Scorecard