Head added to Sri Lanka tour squad

Rising star Travis Head appears to be firmly in Australia’s plans for their next subcontinental assignment after the young South Australian batsman was today added to the one-day international squad for the Qantas Tour of Sri Lanka.

Head will join the national squad in Colombo tomorrow for the lead-up to the final Test, but coach Darren Lehmann insisted the West Ends Redbacks captain would not be considered for selection this week.

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The 22-year-old batsman and handy off-spin bowler made his sole ODI appearance during the recent tri-series in the Caribbean, but was initially omitted from the 15-man squad named for the five-match series on the island nation.

The national call-up cuts short Head’s stint with English county side Yorkshire – where he blasted 175 in a one-day clash and posted a half century in his sole first-class appearance – but also suggests he is well and truly in the frame for next year’s four-Test tour of India.

The series looms as Australia’s most important assignment ahead of the home Ashes series in the summer of 2017-18, with the national hierarchy desperately searching for answers to the team’s Asian affliction after the shock series loss to the seventh-ranked Sri Lankans.

Head has been considered a long-term prospect for a number of years and it is hoped the experience of training with the Test squad, followed by the ODI leg of the tour, will only enhance his Test potential.

“He’s a young player who has the attributes we think are quite important here,” Lehmann told media before travelling to Colombo today.

“We want to give him as much experience, because he’s a young guy who’s had some success.

“He hasn’t had enough international exposure and we think it’s a really good time to do that, with an eye on the future as well.

“We’ve been impressed with him. That’s why he has come in a bit early. It’s only a couple of days earlier than the one-day squad.”

The left-hander – who Test great Greg Chappell once described as being ‘in the mould of Darren Lehmann’ - has already featured in various tours to the subcontinent, but the visit to Sri Lanka will be his first at the highest level.

An under-19 series in India nearly five years ago and last year’s ‘A’ tour in Chennai, along with a pair of Indian Premier League campaigns, ensure Head will be well aware of the challenges to expect should he earn selection for the Indian tour to be hosted by Bengaluru, Dharamsala, Ranchi and Pune across February and March. 

In the immediate aftermath of the second Test thrashing in Galle, Australia captain Steve Smith suggested it might be time to look at selecting batsmen specifically for the conditions – even if that meant vastly different line-ups to those taking the field in other parts of the world.

"Yeah it certainly needs to be looked at," the captain admitted. "If there are guys that can play spin well in these conditions then it's certainly got to be a chance.

"It's been too long now, so whatever we're doing it's not working.

"So yeah, there might be a need for some changes."

Head, along with fellow highly-rated Test hopefuls Cameron Bancroft, Peter Handscomb and Marcus Stoinis, all featured in the four-day component of the ‘A’ tour of India in July last year alongside members of Australia’s current top order in Joe Burns and Usman Khawaja.

Asked if the South Australian skipper’s inclusion for the Sri Lankan tour was a precursor to the Indian Test tour, Lehmann was playing with a straight bat.

“You’re always looking at those things,” the Bupa Support Team head coach said.

“When you haven’t had the success you’d like, you’ve got to look at different things.

"We’re really happy with the group. Obviously we’d like different results.

“But we are just bringing him in for the experience more than anything else.”

Australia begin their ODI campaign against Sri Lanka on 21 August at R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

Australia ODI squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), George Bailey, Nathan Coulter-Nile, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Moises Henriques, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa