Australia will consider taking the drastic step of changing their batting order midway through the Test match to combat their selection dilemma ahead of the Sri Lanka series.
Teenage swordsman Konstas is the starter and helped seal Australia’s first victory over India in a decade with valuable contributions in his first two Test matches.
Head, Australia’s middle-order aggressor at home, averaged 55.75 runs as an injury replacement for David Warner during the last two-and-a-half Tests in the last subcontinent to India in 2023.
“I don’t know where I’m going to bat at the moment,” Head said ahead of Monday’s main training session for the first Test. “We’ll see how that terrain develops in the coming days.”
But Head revealed Australia had been discussing the possibility of changing their batting order mid-game if pitch conditions demanded flexibility.
Questions remain over how much spin will be offered from day one in Test matches as the pitch was played very differently in Galle on Australia’s last two visits in 2022 and 2016.
Head has more experience in Asia than Konstas, who is embarking on his first test tour of the subcontinent, but has not always been able to make the most of the grounds. He said that when it came to the initial debate, Australia could have its cake and eat it too.
“It’s been a topic of conversation lately in this team about first Australian innings, second innings, why don’t you change the order?” The head said. “Why can’t we be flexible? What moves? How can we be brave? That hasn’t developed as such yet. Is this the tour to do it? We’ll wait and see.”
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The current Australian team has often changed its batting order mid-game to deploy a night watchman, usually Nathan Lyon, but a premeditated change mid-game would be unprecedented. But in the era of Konstas’ reverse ramp shots and growing support for Test cricket, Head feels the time has come for a change.
“The game is evolving, so why not continue to see where we can make leaps and bounds and where we can get an advantage?” said. “If that’s using people in different positions, traditionally not much is done… [but] “This team has enough experience and is in a great position where the players will be open to that if necessary.”
Head averaged 7.66 at his usual number 5 spot during Australia’s last visit to Sri Lanka, the worst figures of any bilateral series in his 54-match Test career. His form on the subcontinent was so terrible that Head found himself ruled out for the start of the 2023 India series, despite shining against the West Indies and South Africa in the previous summer at home.
Head returns to Sri Lanka ready to play with his characteristic positive intent regardless of his position in the order, admitting that the last tour to Sri Lanka was unforgettable.
“I wasn’t happy with the way the tour went,” he said. “I went through a little transition here and in Pakistan last time, I tried to play a little more traditional.
“That [2023] The Indian series could have gone one way or the other. I don’t play well and will probably never see a tour of the subcontinent again. Or I go out and do what I’ve been doing the last few years and come out a little more relaxed.
“So I’ll build on that. I’m comfortable wherever I need to be to win the Test. I’m not worried about where I bat anymore. I haven’t for a while.”