Australia centurion emotional after play after dedicating century to former teammate
Emotional Head pays tribute to Hughes
It was an emotional day for Travis Head on Friday as the vice-captain paid tribute to the late Phillip Hughes upon reaching his maiden Test century.
Head was a close friend and state teammate of Hughes when the talented batsman tragically died in 2014 from injuries sustained from being struck by a ball in a JLT Sheffield Shield clash against NSW at the SCG.
Head, who scored 161 on Friday, choked back tears when asked who he dedicated his century to.
"A few … Hughesy as well. I'm a little bit emotional to be honest," Head told SEN Test cricket after play.
"(It was dedicated to) a few, Hughesy as well. I'm a little bit emotional to be honest." Travis Head shed tears in an emotional post-match interview on SEN Test Cricket, after scoring his maiden Test century #AUSvSL pic.twitter.com/C1TW3k4EtA— SEN 1116 (@1116sen) February 1, 2019
Opener Joe Burns shared a 308-run stand with Head, the highest partnership by a pair batting together for the first time in Test cricket.
Burns was out in the middle to share Head's century celebration and said he just wanted to hug his teammate for as long as he could.
"He was obviously very emotional for his first hundred," said Burns, who batted the entire day to post a career-best 172no.
"Out in the middle you kind of don't ask how someone's feeling, I was just over the moon for him.
"To see a bloke, the hard work that's he's done all summer and for a number of years playing against him as well, you knew how good a player he was.
"I think it's one of those innings today that will get him started in his Test career and get that first one out of the way and open the floodgates.
"I just wanted to hug him as hard as I could for as long as I could and keep batting with him. It was really enjoyable."
Domain Test Series v Sri Lanka
Australia: Tim Paine (c/wk), Joe Burns, Pat Cummins, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Kurtis Patterson, Will Pucovski, Jhye Richardson, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis
Sri Lanka: Dinesh Chandimal (c), Dimuth Karunaratne, Lahiru Thirimanne, Kusal Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Dhananjaya de Silva, Roshen Silva, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Kusal Perera, Dilruwan Perera, Lakshan Sandakan, Suranga Lakmal, Kasun Rajitha, Chamika Karunaratne, Vishwa Fernando
First Test: Australia won by an innings and 40 runs
Second Test: February 1-5, Canberra