Australia’s early exit from the T20 World Cup has opened up the possibility of some of the country’s leading cricket stars playing in the next round of Sheffield Shield next month. But Travis Head is reportedly leaning towards joining Steve Smith and making himself unavailable.
Australia failed to progress out of the group stage at the World Cup for the first time since 2009, and now suddenly find themselves with some spare time on their hands. Many of Australia’s squad will play in the IPL from March 26, but the door is now ajar to play in the Shield on March 5.
Travis Head and Steve Smith will reportedly skip Sheffield Shield games next month. Image: Getty
With two matches until the final, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and NSW are all still in contention to face Victoria in the decider. All four of those states would receive a huge boost if their international stars are available, but it looks like bad news for SA and NSW.
Smith will reportedly skip the rest of the Shield season, despite not having a contract in the IPL. He’ll play in the Pakistan Super League instead of the IPL, but won’t be turning out for NSW in the meantime. It’s believed Smith won’t play Shield cricket moving forward unless it precedes a Test series, which sparked a stunning rebuke from former Australia coach John Buchanan last week.
Travis Head and Steve Smith won’t be available for South Australia and NSW respectively.
(Getty Images)Travis Head unlikely to play Sheffield Shield
And according to The Daily Telegraph, Head is leaning towards joining Smith and taking a break as well. Head has previously spoken about feeling burnt out after the Ashes series, and the international calendar for 2026 and 27 is absolutely stacked.
Australia play Tests at home against Bangladesh (in August) and New Zealand (in December/January), with a tour of South Africa in between in October. There’s a tour to India in January 2027, the 150th anniversary Test against England in March 2027 at the MCG, an away Ashes series in the middle of that year and then an ODI World Cup in late 2027.
It’s why Head opted not to play in the BBL for the Adelaide Strikers, and why he reportedly won’t suit up for South Australia in the Shield. Leading reporter Daniel Cherny wrote on Monday: “Head is understood to be favouring time off ahead of the IPL rather than play for third-placed SA.”
As for some of the other big names, Cameron Green is reportedly leaning towards making himself available for WA despite them not being in contention. Green struggled mightily in the World Cup and is said to be keen for some match practice.
Cooper Connolly and Josh Inglis could also play for WA against Queensland, who might have Xavier Bartlett at their disposal. T20 captain Mitch Marsh is retiring from first-class cricket at the end of the Shield season, but hasn’t been in red-ball calculations for WA for some time.
As for the one-day cup, NSW might have Ben Dwarshuis, Sean Abbott and Adam Zampa available for the final against Tasmania on March 11. Tassie would conceivably have Nathan Ellis and Matt Kuhnemann at their disposal.