Melbourne [Australia], June 23 (ANI): Australia batter Travis Head has called on his teammates to swiftly put their recent ICC World Test Championship Final loss to South Africa behind them, as they prepare to kick off a new cycle against the West Indies in Barbados.
The Aussies have little time to lick their wounds following their five-wicket loss to the Proteas at Lord’s in the Ultimate Test earlier this month, with their new World Test Championship campaign commencing with a three-match series against the West Indies in the Caribbean on Wednesday.
Head believes a quick turnaround from the World Test Championship Final to the West Indies series is a positive for his side and has urged his teammates not to dwell on the loss to the Proteas when they take on the Caribbean side.
“There’s added motivation to go out there and play well,” Head said of the first Test in Barbados, as quoted from the official website of the ICC.
“We didn’t play well (against South Africa) and it’s unfortunate,” he added.
“We put two years of hard work into one week and didn’t quite go to plan and the opposition played really well, so there’s another motivation,” he noted.
“We’ve got two more years to build, and this is another first look at it so I think if you dwell on it for too long or if you look back you forget about what’s moving forward,” Head said.
“As hard as that is, we play so much cricket and are so used to that but of course we care and of course it’s not ideal but at the end of the day you can’t change it so you have to move on you have to get back on the horse and you have to play good cricket,” he noted.
“I think a lot of guys are wanting to do that we’ve had a little bit of time to reflect and I’ve got time to prep and we’re going to another Test series that we’re hopeful to play well in,” he added.
Australia will be without the services of key batter Steve Smith for the opening Test against the West Indies, with the veteran right-hander still recovering from the finger injury he picked up while fielding during the loss in the World Test Championship Final.
Former No. 1-ranked Test batter Marnus Labuschagne is also missing, having been dropped by the Aussies, with teenager Sam Konstas and fellow batter Josh Inglis named as their replacements for the first Test at Kensington Oval.
Head expects Labuschagne to work his way back into the Test setup quickly and is also predicting Inglis to thrive when filling in for the injured Smith.
Inglis scored a century on debut against Sri Lanka at the start of the year, and Head believes the 30-year-old is capable of performing well once more.
“It feels like he’s played a lot more than he has for Australia as he has been in the squad for a long time and he has been around the group for a long time,” Head noted.
“Once he gets his extended stay on the team I think he will excel,” he added.
“He’s been waiting for a good amount of time to get a crack and it’s exciting for Josh,” Head said. (ANI)
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