[ad_1]
Former Australian captain Mark Taylor urged Travis Head to let go of a ‘four or nothing’ mentality and work on strike rotation as he fights for his place in the Test side.
The head is widely tilted for chopping for young gun Will Pucovski ahead of the third test in Sydney, with David Warner the confirmed replacement for ax opener Joe Burns.
With the two openers coming in to the side, Head appears to be the odd man in middle order with Matthew Wade coming back in middle order.
Taylor and fellow Aussie Ian Chappell dropped Head from their selection of Australian XIs for the third test, and Taylor offered some advice to the southpaw.
“I would love to see Travis Head work more on the ball maneuver,” he told Wide World of Sports.
“The game is becoming a four or none game, but match test cricket still requires the ones, two and three. This is where he can improve and work on his game in order to to be able to take off, to be busier on strike.
“He can let the Warners and the Smiths cross the line to be that person who’s just solid in the middle order.
“This art of taking off is slowly dying and for players like Travis Head it is imperative that they keep working on this part of their games.”
Being dropped would be a dramatic drop from grace for Head, who has been touted as a future captain by many, and Taylor has said he needs runs in big tests despite his career average of 39.75.
“Travis Head is perfectly positioned to potentially become a leader of the Australian team,” he said.
“He’s 26 with a lot of Shield cricket behind him, but he still hasn’t played that or two innings which makes him a top class cricketer.
“At the end of the day, to be captain or leader of the team, you really have to be in the team. At the moment, he’s not making enough points, we really need him to make the points.”
“If you look at his career, he’s an average of under 40, which is certainly not bad, but since last year’s Ashes he’s been on average 30.
“The big heats of the last few days have been the Ashes in England and this heats so far and for me if you race in these heats it’s worth double.”
XI OF TAYLOR AND CHAPPELL: 1. David Warner, 2. Will Pucovski, 3. Marnus Labuschagne, 4. Steve Smith, 5. Matthew Wade, 6. Cameron Green, 7. Tim Paine, 8. Pat Cummins, 9. Mitchell Starc, 10. Nathan Lyon, 11. Josh Hazlewood
[ad_2]
