Hero Head returns ready for Test bouncer barrage

Travis Head admits he's not fully recovered from the hand injury that almost derailed his ultimately triumphant World Cup campaign, but is not fussed if Pakistan's fast bowlers target him with some short stuff when he returns to Test cricket this week.

Head partook in his first hit against a red ball with what he described as a "pretty average" nets session at the WACA Ground in Perth on Sunday, but chose to sit out Monday’s optional training run given he only returned from Australia's T20I series in India last week.

And he concedes that amid the whirlwind of publicity and cult worship from his match-winning century in the World Cup final win and the well-documented celebrations that followed, he's not been afforded much time to think about how he'll approach the three-Test NRMA Insurance Series against Pakistan starting Thursday.

What the irrepressible left-hander can guarantee is that the style of game he takes into his first first-class outing since the Ashes tour won't look demonstrably different to the limited-overs version that has made him a global household name.

"Nothing really changes from my side of things in terms of the mental state and where I want to be," Head said.

"I want to be positive, I want to be aggressive and we've spoken a bit about the way I played in the World Cup (which was) calculated with the right percentages.

"So do the same thing again, and whether that is striking at 50 (per 100 balls faced) or striking at 100, wherever the game presents itself is how I've seen my game over a period of time now."

The combination of a Pakistan attack built largely around pace and a pitch at Perth Stadium that is expected to play true-to-type by offering encouragement to the quicks means Head can expect a steady diet of short-pitched bowling on his return to the red-ball format.

Despite his recent run-scoring deeds in Test cricket, having plundered 1303 runs at an average of 56.6 at a strike rate of 81 over the past 12 months, rival teams have persisted with an attack plan that suggests he's fallible against bouncers aimed at his upper body.

But as the 29-year-old points out, he produced scores of 99 at Perth Stadium and 175 at Adelaide last year (against West Indies) then 92 and 51 against South Africa's vaunted seam attack (at Brisbane and the MCG) which indicates a propensity to prosper on fast, bouncy tracks.

"Whatever comes, I just try to react well and be prepared for anything," he said when asked about the likelihood of another bout of bouncers from Pakistan's quicks.

"As you move through your innings you're going to get different plans, and I'm sure it will be much the same.

"The one thing I have accepted is there's never a pretty way of getting out.

"In my case there's definitely not many pretty outs because of the way I snap my wrists through the ball and way I react.

"But that's what I do, so I'm not too fussed about how I get out.

"I'll always criticise myself and work on it and there's never a free hit - I haven't got free rein to go out and throw caution to the wind.

"It's calculated, and sometimes it comes off but sometimes it doesn't."

Head will enter the three-match Test campaign against Pakistan with shorter preparation time than any of his Australia teammates, having stayed on in India after the World Cup triumph to take part in the five-game T20 series.

He revealed the decision to remain in India while the rest of the Test squad members returned home was made partly because he had missed more than a month of cricket due to the left-hand fracture he suffered when struck while batting in South Africa last September.

But a greater consideration was Head's hopes to secure a place in Australia's T20 line-up for next year's World Cup in the West Indies and USA.

"I'm not a lock for that T20 World Cup, so I wanted to present and try to perform and try to get myself in that team," he said.

"That was the trade-off, and I don’t think I could ever imagine what I was able to achieve over the couple of days in the (World Cup) semi and the final, and that caused a couple of question marks and conversations about who would stay (in India) and who wouldn't.

"I was very keen to be involved and I think it was important for what's coming up.

"I haven’t got many T20 opportunities coming up over the next little bit, so that last chance to press my claims, to make sure I'm in the mix and really build up to that important (tournament)."

While the hand injury still causes him "stiffness and soreness" when batting in the nets, Head claims he doesn't notice it during match play when a combination of painkillers and adrenaline work their magic.

However, he won't be putting that hand up for the Test opener's role that becomes vacant for the two-Test campaign against West Indies that follows the Pakistan series, when incumbent David Warner has served notice of his retirement from the red-ball format.

Head can cite the couple of occasions he's taken on the new ball in Tests, during this year's Border-Gavaskar Trophy Series in India, as well as the job he performed with such stunning success in one-day cricket as reasons why he might be in the mix to fill Warner's shoes.

But he claimed discussions he's held with the Australia brains trust have ruled out an elevation to the top of the order save for special occasions, such as Tests on the sub-continent where scoring briskly against the hard, new ball often represents the best hope of bossing a game.

"The conversations I've had are that it won't happen," he said of his Test opening prospects.

"I won't be in that spot, they're happy with me in the middle-order.

"I think it is a specialist job, and the guys who have been waiting to get in the team for a while deserve first crack at it.

"But the conversations are ongoing with everyone.

"The only one with me is the conversation around the sub-continent, but when you've got someone who's locked in and doing well you also don't want to change that.

"So I don't see myself moving around too much in the future."

What he also could not have foreseen was the celebrity profile he gained in the aftermath of his 137 (from 120 balls faced) that sank India in the World Cup final, and which only grew as photos of Australia's post-match party went viral.

Head remains somewhat bemused by reports that fans adopted his rock star sunglasses and bushy moustache in fancy dress outfits and their own social media tributes.

But he notes that spending additional time in India before returning home to Adelaide last week helped keep him arms-length from much of that frenzy.

"It's been crazy," he said of his new world-beater status.

"Ten or twelve extra days in India probably helped a bit to deflate things, to just calm things down just a touch.

"I think I did myself dirty with a couple of photos, but then also the boys stitched me up a couple of times.

"Some of the memes and whatnot, it was an amazing four or five days and the energy yesterday when the boys all came together – I think there's 10 of us (Test squad members) that played in that final and you can still feel the buzz and the energy.

"I'm sure we'll still feel that when we arrive at the Test, and the crowd which I'm excited about."

NRMA Insurance Test series v Pakistan

Prime Minister's XI v Pakistan XI: Match drawn

First Test: December 14-18, Perth Stadium (1.20pm AEDT)

Second Test: December 26-30, MCG (10.30am AEDT)

Third Test: January 3-7, SCG (10.30am AEDT)

Australia squad: (first Test only) Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Lance Morris, Steve Smith, Mitch Starc, David Warner

Pakistan squad: Shan Masood (c), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Saud Shakeel and Shaheen Shah Afridi