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By the time Steve Smith tosses the coin on Friday morning at Optus Stadium for the Ashes opener, nine Australian players will have been made available to the media in Perth.

They include Smith, probable debutants Jake Weatherald and Brendan Doggett, and regulars Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Beau Webster, Alex Carey, Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland.

While the truncated lead-in has not allowed for every Australian squad member to speak on the ground in Perth, it is often those who don’t front cameras that offer more of a clue about their preparation.

Travis Head is one of them. He has scored 31, 5, 8, 8, 28, 29, 28, 6, 9 and 15 in his past 10 hits.

Although 80 per cent of those innings were in white-ball international games, the fact that one of Australia’s most important players has made just 167 runs at 16.7 in the three months leading into the Ashes is a concern.

It would be foolish to write off Head – he could easily peel off a hundred on Friday – but a couple of low scores in Perth in a match England win would inevitably spark debate about his preparation.

England quick Gus Atkinson added a touch of spice on Wednesday when asked how best to contain Head.

“He’s obviously a world-class player and a very dangerous player,” Atkinson said. “As quickly as he can score, he can also give away some chances, so we’ll just have to take those.”
Head, who unveiled a fresh mullet on Wednesday, trained in the second batting group alongside Labuschagne, Webster and Carey at Australia’s final big session before the Test. He played and missed his first ball but otherwise looked in promising touch on a day that marked two years since his match-winning 137 in the ODI World Cup final against India.

Sensing the need for more red-ball cricket, Head left Australia’s T20 squad early to return to the Sheffield Shield with South Australia.

At Bellerive Oval, he was caught behind for nine in the first innings, attempting to launch Webster over deep point. His reaction suggested he felt he hadn’t hit it, though Tasmania’s slips cordon disagreed.

In the second innings, he edged Webster to Jackson Bird at first slip for 15, inspecting his bat as he walked off as if searching for answers. The highest score in the match was South Australia’s chase of 7-219.

History, though, says Head flicks the switch when it matters.

He averages 41.71 in Test cricket, 51.52 in Australia and 52.2 in the opening Test of a home summer. He made 152 in the 2021-22 Ashes opener in Brisbane.

In 60 Tests, Head has been named man of the match 10 times – a strike rate of once every six games. One of those came in the 2023 World Test Championship final, when he blasted 163 against India, having not picked up a bat for two months after his wedding and a European honeymoon in Sorrento, Rome and Nice.

“I felt a little bit underdone,” Head later admitted in Amazon Prime’s The Test documentary. “The boys started training, and I got a bit nervous about what I hadn’t done.”

There was also the wobbly start to the 2022-23 summer: scores of 6, 5, 0, 8 and 12 not out in Shield cricket before Head reeled off 69, 19, 152, 99, 175, 38 not out and 92 in white-ball games against England and Tests against the West Indies and South Africa.

Head, however, did surface this week via a pre-recorded Triple M interview spruiking his new wine collection.

“Over the last couple of years, fair to say the most dominant batsman in the world on the big stage,” the presenter declared. “When we need him in world finals, this man produces. Our very own Travis Head, good morning.”

While there were no questions about his lean run, Head did reveal Doggett had snared a prime seat on the flight west.

“He sat in 1A on the flight over here. I said, ‘Jeez, your week’s not b,” Head said. “It looks likely he’s in the squad. I think if he plays here, it’s a wicket that really suits him.”

And facing England himself?

“I respect them fully,” Head said. “You want to beat them.”