Tons of joy for Travis
MORE than 300 runs in a week is the sort of scoring explosion Australian coach and selector Justin Langer wants from batsmen he desperately wants to pick and Travis Head delivered that in emphatic style.
The South Australian captain lifted his team with what could become a career defining Sheffield Shield doublecentury at the WACA, in front of Langer who was looking on from the stands. His day one effort of 189 was good, and including scoring 183 runs in two sessions.Then Head wasted no time reaching an all-new milestone on day two of the clash with WA. It took just 10 more balls for Head to reach his first ever 200 for his state.
Head’s imperious innings of 223 - he was finally out after 245 balls with his team 6-416 - now stands as the second highest-score for any SA batsman at the WACA. Only 356 from the great Barry Richards stands as a better effort.
The double-hundred came on the back of an unbeaten century in grade cricket in Adelaide last weekend, which was where the 27-year-old SA captain said he found his batting “rhythm”.
As wickets fell around him, Head seemed impervious, going after the
WA bowling attack with a fervour the WACA ground rewards.
“I enjoy batting here. It’s a great place to bat, great wicket. You get value for shots,” he said after bludgeoning 26 boundaries on day one, then another six in the opening hour on day two including back-to-back fours to bring up the SA 400. Dropped from the Test team after two matches against India, but recalled to the squad for the postponed tour of South Africa, Head, who now has 678 Shield runs this season, proceeded to display the leadership his team demanded, crafting his highest first class score.
“It’s a huge time for us as South Australia to look where we want to go in the next few years and make big steps,” Head said selflessly after finishing day one of the game not out on 189, off just 204 balls. “It’s a huge opportunity for my leadership ... to dive in to the next four games, get some positivity around South Australian cricket.”
Head said his opening day effort was “nice”, particularly knowing Langer was in the stands watching.
“Today could have been a duck, but luckily it was 189,” he said.
“I know these days don‘t come around too often, and you have to make the most of them.”
THE AFL admits it might have to scrap its current fixture after only a single round, as tight West Australian border restrictions threaten to cause fixture chaos again.
The league has Fremantle flying to Victoria in Round 1 to take on Melbourne, with West Coast scheduled to play the Western Bulldogs in Melbourne in Round 2.
It means Fremantle could not fly back into Perth to host
GWS in Round 2, because the players would be forced into a 14-day quarantine after having visited Victoria.
West Coast would have an identical problem for its Round 3 fixture.
The WA Government has stated it will need 28 days without community transmission in Victoria before dropping border restrictions.
WA premier Mark McGowan said on Friday afternoon that Victoria’s two new positives did not reset the count to zero, suggesting border restrictions to Victoria would ease by March 13.
That would allow both WAbased teams to fly in and out of the state freely, but it would take only another COVID-19 case that spread past close contacts for the WA border to again be closed, throwing the fixture into uncertainty.
AFL fixturing boss Travis Auld conceded that the league was still in talks with the WA state government about how the fixture could proceed.
The tight restrictions might force the WA-based teams on the road for the early weeks of the season again, in a reprise of last year’s nightmare fixture.
“The Round 1 fixture, as it stands, we can proceed with that. The challenge will be Fremantle coming to Victoria to play Melbourne,” Auld said.
“That causes issues for them (returning to WA) but it causes issues for us as a competition, and West Coast play Gold Coast in Round 1, but in Round 2 they come to Melbourne. “So it’s the same issue for them.
“We have got to work through that challenge.
“Clearly, we have to work with those clubs and the WA Government to see if there is a better solution without compromising the health of the community.
Asked what that compromise might be, Auld replied: “I wish I had the answer to that”.
The AFL has short-term options, including cycling those clubs through Queensland for several weeks after playing Melbourne sides to effectively “cleanse” them for 14 days.
It means they could continue playing each week, then fly from Queensland back into WA, with no border restrictions between those states.
But it is understood if West Coast or Fremantle play any team which has played a Victorian side within the past 14 days, the WA-based teams become “dirty” again and have to quarantine for 14 days upon their return.