Travis heading in right direction for 2016

It wasn’t quite a New Year’s resolution, but Travis Head made it clear that consistency would be his focus in 2016.

You’ve surely seen the footage by now. A century in 53 balls, including 56 from the final 15 deliveries to seal – make that steal – the unlikeliest of victories.

It was only a few months ago that Head had yet to score a century in any of Australia’s domestic competitions. 

He has now recorded one in each format as the summer reaches the halfway point, highlighted by twin tons in the shorter formats that will long be remembered as all-time great performances in the respective tournaments.

However, Head realises his next outing is now more important than the last as he strives for the consistency needed to earn higher honours after what he describes as a ‘not so great’ year in 2015.

The remarkable 202 he scored on the opening day of the Matador Cup was followed by a combined 104 runs from the next seven knocks as he led the West End Redbacks to the one-day final.

WATCH: Head slams record-breaking double-century

Similarly, his breakthrough first-class hundred preceded scores of 4, 4, 0, 4, 20 and 24 not out.

It’s important to remember the talented left-hander just turned 22 years old earlier in the week, but the state skipper is clearly determined to push for so much more.

"For me, this season has been to try and go out to prove to a few people that the belief they’ve given me is right," Head said after the remarkable win in last night’s KFC Big Bash League clash against the Sydney Sixers.

"I’ve been pretty inconsistent this year which has annoyed me a fair bit.

"I think I’ve still got a lot to improve – and a lot to prove.

"I haven’t had the greatest of years, I’ve been very inconsistent.

"It’s not getting to me, but it’s in the back of my mind that to be a good player you need to be consistent and keep backing it up.

"That’s what the old boys in our side have done for so long and been consistent."

WATCH: Head posts maiden first-class century

The 'old boys' Head affectionately refers to are of course cricket stalwarts and Strikers teammates Brad Hodge and Mahela Jayawardena.

Hodge has long been a fan of Head, and the decision to hand the captaincy to the 41-year-old and let the Redbacks skipper focus on his batting now appears to be paying dividends.

"I think I’m still a leader in this side, I’ve played a few years now and I’m batting in an important spot in the team between Mahela and Hodgey," Head says.

"So I still feel that leadership and try to give it as much as possible. I still try to stay as relaxed and just play my cricket. It’s nice to get some results from that.

"(Hodge) lets me do what I want when I’m out in the middle, lets me play.

"He doesn’t really say a lot, but when he does say something it’s really beneficial.

"I’ve worked really hard with him in the nets. Same as Mahela, I’ve done a lot of work with him in the week.

The work clearly paid off as Head unleashed a stunning display of power-hitting to guide his side to a much-needed victory in front of a raucous New Year's Eve crowd at the Adelaide Oval.

WATCH: All the highlights of Head's NYE century

The match-winner revealed after play that he feared he left himself with too much to do after a steady start to the innings that saw him reach 24no from as many balls before a crucial chance was put down at deep cover.

"We still believed that we could win," he said. "But we probably got ourselves in a tough situation towards the end where we had to do something pretty ridiculous to win and tonight it worked, another night it wouldn’t.

"I was fortunate enough to get a chance which probably helped us a little as well.

"It could have been anyone tonight, but I was fortunate enough to get a couple out of the middle which I was probably due to do in the tournament.

"I had to do a fair bit of catching up for the side because we got ourselves behind the rate a little bit, probably more than we wanted.

"With a short boundary I thought we were still a sniff, but I knew it was going to take something special."

And something special it was.

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