Travis Head hopes for white-ball runs in pursuit of Test return

After Australia retained the Ashes in the fourth Test in Manchester, Head, who averaged just 27.28 in four Tests in the series, was replaced by all-rounder Mitchell Marsh for the final Test at The Oval.

In his first Sheffield Shield outing of the 2019-20 season, Head, who captains South Australia, laboured to 51 off 184 balls in a drawn match against Victoria, before being dismissed for a 25-ball duck and 12 in the next game against Queensland, which his side lost by four wickets.

Now, Head is looking at a switch to the white-ball format, with his side South Australia set to take on Queensland in The Marsh Cup, the domestic one-day competition, in a bid to get back into form.

"I think one-day cricket in the middle of summer is a good thing, sometimes it can give you a little bit of freedom," Head said. "I can go out and hit the ball, I can go out and play with a bit of freedom. At the moment, I probably have not given myself the best opportunity, but I feel like runs aren't too far away."

Head further said that although he hasn't made enough runs to press for a Test spot yet, he is hopeful of returning for the home series against Pakistan.

"I hope so, if I get enough runs," he said of a comeback. "Cricket can sometimes be a cruel game. Sometimes you can get a lot of runs and feel like you are not batting well, sometimes you can bat well and not get runs.

"I would love to be there [in the first Test against Pakistan], obviously, but I will keep doing what I am doing. If I spend a bit of time out in a one-day game and follow it up with a [good] Shield game, I can go back to playing really good cricket."

Australia begin their two-Test series against Pakistan on 21 November in Brisbane.