Travis Head was put through his paces in a one-on-one catching drill with Australian coach Andrew McDonald as the opener sought to prove his fitness for Saturday’s clash with New Zealand on what shapes as a green deck in Dharamsala.
All-rounder Marcus Stoinis meanwhile bowled in the nets, but Australian captain Pat Cummins would not confirm their respective availability for the clash with the Black Caps.
Having arrived in India a week ago after missing the early part of the tournament with a broken left hand, Head had been pressing to face the Netherlands in Delhi on Wednesday, however, a cautious approach was ultimately taken as Australia stuck with its same top six.
Attention then turned to whether Head would be good to go against the 2019 finalists at the foot of the Himalayas.
The South Australian batted for around 20 minutes in the nets on Friday morning, before bowling for a similar period. Head’s hand was then tested by McDonald on the patchy Dharamsala outfield.
Stoinis meanwhile missed the match against the Dutch with minor calf soreness, his spot in the side taken by fellow West Australian Cameron Green.
The veteran rolled the arm over, suggesting his readiness to play, but Cummins was not definitive about either Head or Stoinis before training.
“I don’t know to be honest,” Cummins said.
Should Head be selected, he will open the batting alongside David Warner, knocking Mitch Marsh to No. 3, Steve Smith to No. 4 and Marnus Labuschagne likely out of the team altogether.
Smith said he’d been “a bit shocked” when told of his impending move, but Cummins said Smith was ultimately a team player.
“He said himself he’ll do whatever’s best for the team,” Cummins said.
“Trav’s been amazing for the last 12 months, Mitch Marsh at the top has been amazing, David Warner is obviously a superstar up there. We think that’s the best way to set up the team and we’re really happy with how the batting line-up looks like that. It’s been fine. We all do some roles that maybe isn’t your preference but it’s what’s best for the team.”
The wicket in Dharamsala looked on Friday to be much grassier than the ones Australia has confronted thus far in its World Cup campaign.
Combined with the fact that the match is a rare day game, Cummins said it presented a different equation when determining match strategy
“It feels a bit more like a Test match, getting up in the morning and turning up here. A bit different to what we’ve been used to. We’ll have a think this afternoon to see if that changes anything to do with the toss. At night, dew and whether it will swing under lights is a factor you think about (but won’t for a day match),” Cummins said.
“It’s a new venue, you’ve got to assess when you’re out there what you think is going to be a good score. It might not be a 400-run innings. We talk a lot about playing what’s in front of you, you assess the conditions. As a batter you build your innings around that, as a bowler we assess what’s going to work whether it’s cutters (or something else). We’ll make sure we’re looking at it closely.”
Cummins was also asked about England’s poor form, which continued in a thumping loss to Sri Lanka which all but ended the reigning champions’ hopes of repeating their feats of four years ago.
The star paceman chuckled as he said: “It was sad to see. I don’t have much more for you.”
Originally published as Cricket World Cup: Australian captain Pat Cummins on Travis Head, Marcus Stoinis fitness
