Travis Head’s greatest innings flattened England. It will define this Ashes series

Perth: It was 50 years ago on a lightning fast WACA Ground pitch that Roy Fredericks scythed the greatest innings ever played against pace: 169 from 145 balls against Dennis Lillee, Jeff Thomson, Max Walker and Gary Gilmour.

On Saturday at Perth’s new stadium over the Swan River, Travis Head did better than that. Making the impromptu decision to replace Usman Khawaja as an opener, Head crashed his way to 123 from 83 balls on a pitch that had terrorised all comers.

Fredericks’ innings was legendary but a one-off, as Australia went on to beat the West Indies 5-1. Head’s pyrotechnics reasserted his place as the most dangerous big-occasion batsman in world cricket. He also knocked the English flat with a starburst of shots that will surely define this Ashes series.

At lunch, it had been briefly possible to imagine something similar to last year’s Perth Test against India, where the tourists occupied the crease for more than 134 overs to set an impossible target for Pat Cummins’ team.

But to do so was to reckon without one of the enduring truths of the “Bazball” era for England: for better or worse, it is wiser to expect the unexpected. With nine minutes to spare, Head and Australia completed an extraordinary, rollercoaster victory by eight wickets inside two days.

Many of the 101,514 spectators didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but they were united in their praise of Head when he walked off with 13 runs to win.

Without the crippled Khawaja, Head went to the top of the order and put on 75 in quick time, with debutant Jake Weatherald, against bowlers who did not quite know what had hit them. The match, and the series, turned more sharply than Shane Warne’s leg-break to Mike Gatting.

Head took a few balls to get himself in, then fired shots to all parts. He flayed a six over third man to reach 50, and clouted another pull shot straight down the ground from Jofra Archer as he closed on a century. Ben Stokes, who had plenty to say when Weatherald walked to the middle, was momentarily speechless.

“Little bit shellshocked,” Stokes said afterwards. “Pretty phenomenal from Head. Pretty raw, pretty emotional, but that was some knock.

“The guys who had success were really brave and took the game on. If you find yourself in the position of getting in, you have to try and go on. Travis has knocked the wind out of us there.”

What this all did was to underline another truth. While England’s pace attack has been assembled with plenty of care and attention to detail, marshalling a group of speedy, committed and relentless fast bowlers, the batting lineup is nowhere near as tuned.

It is a curious aspect of the cricket played under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum that the bowling has generally been both clever and disciplined. In 2023, on flat pitches, the bowlers kept asking awkward questions of Australia and ultimately broke the touring side’s batting down for collapses at Headingley and the Oval that secured a 2-2 series draw.

As Brydon Carse put it after day one, the bowling group has been united in the knowledge that it isn’t just speed that will kill Australia, but relentless pressure.

By contrast, England’s approach to batting is, for lack of a better term, largely vibes-based. Harry Brook, Stokes’ deputy and an outrageous talent, has told those close to him that his game plan can be distilled around his simple desire to stop pace bowlers from attacking his stumps.

It is true that this approach has unlocked some incredible displays over four years: Brook, Joe Root, Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Stokes and Jonny Bairstow have all contributed centuries that could pass for highlights packages.

But there was wide acknowledgement, both within and outside the England team, that this series would require something greater and more nuanced if Stokes was going to join Douglas Jardine and Ray Illingworth as the only England captains to regain the Ashes on Australian soil.

Having been bailed out so magnificently by their bowlers on the first evening, here was the ideal opportunity to show that evolution. Instead, Ollie Pope, Brook and Root all jumped like lemmings into the trap of trying to drive in Perth.

Around them were some blameless dismissals. Duckett and Stokes were both dismissed by movement and bounce on the perfect line from Scott Boland and the magnificent Mitchell Starc respectively. Those are going to happen in Test cricket, particularly on a surface as lively as this one.

When accompanied by the uncontrolled urge to drive early on, however, they bring the recipe for the sort of collapse that pulled Australia back into the Test match.

After six wickets had fallen for 39 runs, it took a 50-run stand between Carse and Gus Atkinson to prolong the innings and take England’s lead to 200.

Their partnership demonstrated that it is possible to make proactive decisions with a little less risk than by trying to drive good-length balls. They also showed how, for the first time in some years, England came into his match with a more capable lower order than Australia.

The roars that accompanied another rush of wickets at a packed stadium made for a sense of the gladiatorial. Another near sellout crowd was expected for Sunday, but they were ultimately left looking for other plans, having three extra days to ponder what they’d just seen.

England’s brand of entertaining Test cricket is compulsively watchable. “Bazball” should share equal billing with Slow Horses for the most entertaining limited series to come out of the UK since COVID.

But to win the Ashes on Australian soil, it will be necessary for the batsmen to take a few more cues from the bowlers. Saturday’s play was more River Cartwright than Jackson Lamb, and it was left to Travis Head to provide the popcorn.

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