Ashes hero Head eyeing World Cup berths

Having secured his place in Australia's Test team with a player-of-the-series performance in this summer's Ashes, Travis Head is eyeing a return to the limited-overs line-up with World Cups looming in both white-ball formats over the next two years.

Head was this week named in Australia's squad for three ODIs and one T20I that follow three Tests on the Qantas Tour of Pakistan next month, having not represented his country in either of those formats since 2018.

But on the back of his Compton-Miller Medal-winning efforts in the Vodafone Ashes, and after a career-high 230 (off 127 balls) in a Marsh One-Day Cup game for South Australia against Queensland earlier this summer, he believes it's not just his red-ball game that has significantly improved.

With regular white-ball opener David Warner not named for the limited-overs leg of the Pakistan tour, Head is among the leading candidates to partner Australia white-ball captain Aaron Finch at the top of the batting order.

The 28-year-old has opened 12 times in his 42-match ODI career to date, averaging 41 at a strike rate of almost a run per ball (97.05) and a high score of 128 against Pakistan at Adelaide Oval on Australia Day 2017.

And while he would welcome any opportunity in the starting XI in line with his ambition to represent Australia in all three formats, Head believes the flexibility he offers selectors as a proven option anywhere in the top six could be key to a longer-term tenure in the limited-overs set-up.

"At the moment, I'm probably just trying to take whatever opportunity arises but if that (opening) spot's available, I've played well there and I've done it in the past," he said today.

"Anywhere in that top order, going on my past couple of years in domestic cricket batting at three for South Australia but knowing I can open the batting as well, gives us good versatility around the order.

"I'd just love to be back in the team and have another crack at it.

"It's been a long time between games, and I feel like my one-day cricket has come a long way.

"I've worked extremely hard on Test cricket, but that in itself has made me a better player, and a more compact player and able to score around the ground.

"Playing international cricket, no matter what format it is, makes you a better player and I hope I can make an impact when the time comes."

Head was bemused to read in recent weeks that he had opted to forego his place in Australia's T20 squad for the just-completed Dettol T20I series against Sri Lanka to, instead, return to Adelaide and lead SA in a Marsh Sheffield Shield game against Victoria.

He reaffirmed today he had not made that decision unilaterally but in consultation with many others, with the call for him to get red-ball match practice coming after the cancellation of a planned T20 campaign in New Zealand meant more Australia players were suddenly available for the Sri Lanka series.

When he returned to the T20 squad after that Shield game, Head was not named in the starting XI for either of the remaining Dettol matches in Melbourne which denied him an opportunity to add to the 16 T20Is he's played for Australia since debuting in 2016.

"That wasn't my call," Head said of the decision to forego the first three matches of the Sri Lanka series.

"I want to play all three formats, but I think at the end of the day I did get the best prep.

"I was obviously disappointed not to play one of those games when I did come back into the squad, but to get time at home, to play the Shield game and then get back in the one-day team, I'm extremely keen to get back into that team or in those squads.

"But also I want to best prepare myself for Test cricket, so to have that balancing act over the last month was good."

Despite having announced himself at international level in limited-overs cricket two years before he earned a Baggy Green Cap against Pakistan in Dubai, Head has seemingly become typecast as a red-ball player even though his attacking strokeplay suggests otherwise.

As one of only four specialist batters amid a surfeit of all-rounders and auxiliary keepers in the white-ball squad for Pakistan, he is likely to have a gilt-edged opportunity to push for more regular consideration in Australia's limited-overs planning.

With the next 50-over World Cup scheduled for India in late 2023, national selection chair George Bailey indicated this week Australia is looking to focus on developing ODI players who boast "supplementary secondary skills" whether that be with bat, ball or in the field.

Consequently, Head's occasional off-spin might also become more regularly seen in Pakistan.

However, he noted today he was not expecting to be called upon for many overs during the preceding Tests as teammate Marnus Labuschagne's leg-spin offered a more attractive point of difference to principal off-spinner, Nathan Lyon.

But Head is mindful of the fact he is yet to earn selection in an Australia squad for a limited-overs World Cup.

And while this year's T20 showpiece in Australia seems unlikely for him given the depth of players available to the reigning champions, performances in the 50-over games in Pakistan could enhance his chances for India in 2023.

Not that he's focusing on the next iteration of the ICC ODI World Cup just yet.

"Fingers crossed, but there's some tough series coming up," he said when asked if he saw the Pakistan series as an audition for that 2023 event.

"It's a stepping stone for that obviously.

"If you play well at any stage, you start getting yourself more involved in the squads, and then hopefully I can be a part of them and contributing to a winning team.

"Then, by that stage (2023), hopefully, I'm around the team.

"But that's a long, long way away and we've got a lot of cricket to go between then and now.

"Hopefully I can contribute straight away and get myself back in that mix and then the rest will take care of itself."

Qantas Tour of Pakistan 2022

Pakistan squad: Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan, Abdullah Shafique, Azhar Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Fawad Alam, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Nauman Ali, Sajid Khan, Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood, Zahid Mahmood. Reserves: Naseem Shah, Sarfaraz Ahmed

Australia Test squad: Pat Cummins (c), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, Mark Steketee, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner. On standby: Sean Abbott, Brendan Doggett, Nic Maddinson, Matthew Renshaw

March 4-8: First Test, Rawalpindi

March 12-16: Second Test, Karachi

March 21-25: Third Test, Lahore

Australia ODI and T20 squad: Aaron Finch (c), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Ben McDermott, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa

March 29: First ODI, Rawalpindi

March 31: Second ODI, Rawalpindi

April 2: Third ODI, Rawalpindi

April 5: Only T20I, Rawalpindi

All matches to be broadcast in Australia on Fox Cricket and Kayo Sports