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Marnus method gives Head start for ODI recall

He hasn't played a white-ball game in almost two years, but the Test vice captain wants to follow Marnus Labuschagne's path into Australia's white-ball teams

Travis Head will use the template laid down by Test teammate Marnus Labuschagne to try and forge his way back into Australia's white-ball set-up despite missing out on the current campaign in the UK.

Head, the incumbent Test vice-captain, was heartened to be named in Australia's initial 26-man squad for this month's T20I and ODI matches against England but admits he was disappointed to be cut from the final 21-member touring party.

The 26-year-old began his international career in the 20-over format in 2016 before earning an ODI cap six months later and then a Baggy Green in 2018, but has not played a white-ball game for Australia in almost two years.

Head concedes he felt "flat" after undergoing a concerted training program with South Australia prior to the final UK squad being announced last month, but has received clear feedback from coach Justin Langer and other selectors, and understands elements of his short-form game that need further work.

Given the recent results and form shown by top-order batters in Australia's T20 and ODI line-ups, he knows scoring hundreds is the currency that will bankroll his potential promotion.

And he cites the example of Labuschagne, who made his Test debut alongside Head in the UAE two years ago and has since become one of the most prolific run-scorers in world cricket, in plotting a path from the Test team to the shorter formats.

On the strength of his break-out Test performances last summer, which lifted him to third in the global batting rankings behind Australia's Steve Smith and India's Virat Kohli, Labuschagne was added to the national ODI team earlier this year and currently averages 50 after just seven matches.

He is also part of Australia's squad for the current T20I and ODI series against England, and smashed a century off 100 balls as opener in one of the recent T20 internal trial matches at Southampton.

"I'd love to be in all three formats but at the moment, I'm out of two of them," Head told cricket.com.au.

"But hopefully I'll be in that first Test squad for the coming summer and then the Test team, and I can perform from the start.

"As we've seen with Marnus, he's got massive runs in Test match cricket and forced himself into both limited-overs formats of the game.

"It's almost that if you get yourself into one, you can get yourself into the others so that will be my goal.

"I was excited by the fact I got myself into an extended squad, then trained really hard and felt really good.

"I've missed out a few times over the last couple of years and feel like I've been really close … it's extremely difficult to get in, which it should be.

"I know where I sit, I know where I have to get better and I'll continue to do that."

Bairstow claims unwanted piece of history

Head concedes that if he is to return to international limited-overs cricket, it is more likely to be through the ODI format (Australia are currently ranked fifth in the world) rather than T20s in which Australia and England are vying for global top billing.

He played the most recent of his 42 ODIs in the three-match home series against South Africa in November 2018, losing his place after returning a trio of single-figure scores.

Prior to that campaign, Head had been Australia's third-highest ODI run-scorer since his debut (behind David Warner and Steve Smith) with 1258 at an average of 37 including 10 scores of 50-plus, but a solitary century from his 36 innings.

It's an inability to convert solid starts into sizeable scores that has characterised his batting across all formats at international and domestic level, and redressing the discrepancy has been a focus of Head's pre-season training with SA.

The left-hander has scored more runs in his first 17 Tests (1091 at 41.16) than did former Test skippers Ricky Ponting (1027 at 38.04) and Michael Clarke (1004 at 40,16), and only one run fewer than Steve Smith at the same stage of his career (1092 at 36.40).

But critics point to a conversion rate that shows Head has just two hundreds from his nine scores of 50 or more in Tests, and only eight centuries along with his 32 half-centuries in the Sheffield Shield.

Despite his best ODI innings – 128 against Pakistan and 96 against England – both coming when he opened alongside Warner at his beloved Adelaide Oval, Head has foreshadowed batting himself at number three for the West End Redbacks when the domestic one-day season begins.

Jan '17: Head posts maiden ODI century on home turf

"I think I'm pretty flexible," he said when asked what role he saw himself playing to try and force himself back into Australia's ODI line-up.

"I've batted one to six across the 40-odd one-dayers I've played and I feel like I can do a role in either (opening or middle-order).

"But I probably see myself and Kez (Australia ODI keeper Alex Carey) batting at three and four for SA, and aim to be that matchwinner in the middle-order by batting the whole innings.

"If I need to walk out there in the first over then I have that experience to face the new ball, and if I walk in in the 30th or 40th over then I think I've got the power game to accelerate.

"I've made some really good improvements on my game in the last 18 months, and there's still improvement to happen in all formats of the game.

"But my main priority at the moment is making sure I'm ready to go when the season starts, and having a massive summer in Test cricket."

While his Redbacks teammate Carey has been stripped of the vice-captaincy he had shared with fast bowler Pat Cummins after selectors opted to 'streamline' the limited-overs leadership structure, Head is unaware of plans to similarly rejig the Test team office-bearers.

He was named one of Test skipper Tim Paine's deputies last year – initially alongside Cummins after incumbent vice-captains Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Marsh were sidelined by injury and poor form – and has retained the role despite being dropped for the final Ashes Test in 2019.

Head became the second-youngest full-time captain (after Victoria's 20-year-old skipper Cameron White) in the Sheffield Shield's 127-year history when appointed to lead SA in 2015 aged 21, and has made more Shield appearances before turning 25 (63) than any other player.

However, he maintains he'll remain part of the Test XI's on-field leadership team regardless of whether he retains the title or Cummins is installed as stand-alone deputy, which would seemingly bolster his claims to assuming the captaincy on a permanent basis in the future.

"I don't know anything about what the plans are for that," Head said.

"If I'm the best man for the job and I can help in some capacity, then I'd love to (be Test vice-captain).

"It's a great role to have and there's a lot of honour that comes with it, so if I can help Painey or anyone and they see me in that role, then that's fantastic.

"But at the end of the day I'm there to get runs and help the team, and the leadership is something you can contribute to without being the vice-captain."