Aussie cricket star Travis Head has admitted he’s unlikely to play in the back-end of the BBL season due to the ’emotional drain’ of the Ashes series and a gruelling schedule. Head is the leading run-scorer of the Ashes series so far, making 437 runs at an average of 54.62 in four matches.
His heroics – including centuries in Perth and Adelaide – have helped Australia retain the urn with an unassailable 3-1 lead. With a T20 World Cup coming up in February, there’s hope the majority of Australia’s Test players will feature in the BBL after the Ashes ends next week in Sydney.
Travis Head and his Aussie teammates face a gruelling schedule over the next two years. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
Head is contracted to the Adelaide Strikers, and the South Australian public would love to see him play the domestic T20 comp for the first time in three years. But speaking to The Daily Telegraph on Wednesday, the 32-year-old admitted it’s unlikely.
The Australian T20 squad will head to Pakistan in late January for a warm-up series before the World Cup in early February. Head is keen for a mental and physical break, and it means he’s highly unlikely to suit up for the Strikers.
“Probably unlikely with the emotional drain of an Ashes series, and what’s coming up in terms of the World Cup,” he said. “You go into every series wanting to have a good contribution. I felt like I’ve been close to that and played really well. And the emotional drain of actually being in an Ashes series and playing it is always tough. So I think it’s important to go into a World Cup fresh, but we’ll see where we get to though.”
Travis Head signs autographs for fans after the fourth Ashes Test at the MCG. (Photo by Morgan Hancock/Getty Images for Cricket Australia)
Travis Head and Aussies brace for jam-packed schedule
After the World Cup, Head will again suit up for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL. Following that, Australia faces one of the most packed Test cricket schedules in recent years.
They’ll host Bangladesh at home in August, before a tour of South Africa in October – the first since the ball-tampering scandal of 2018. A home summer against New Zealand will follow, and then a tour to India in January 2027.
The 150th anniversary Test against England is in March 2027 at the MCG, before an away Ashes series in the UK in the middle of the year. The ODI World Cup will be held in late 2027, before another five-Test summer.
Head is among a number of Aussie veterans who have never won an Ashes series on English soil, or a Border-Gavaskar series in India. For many of the current crop, they’re the only boxes left to tick in illustrious careers.
“It’s a concern with how much we’ve already been playing and how much time we’ve got on the road,” Head admitted. “You look at that year (2027) with the young family as well … my mind’s more so with my family. How can I make that year work?”