Head cements himself as Aussies' fastest five

Travis Head has underlined his emergence as one of Test cricket's most effective counter-attacking forces, with the left-hander becoming Australia's fastest-scoring number five.

While Head fell short of a sixth Test century on Sunday, his blistering 92 from only 96 balls has put Australia on course to win on a Gabba pitch that has become increasingly treacherous for batting.

From 3-27 in reply to South Africa's first-inning 152, Australia seized the upper hand thanks largely to the game-changing hand from Head, another innings that typified his bold approach to batting since his return to the Test side last summer.

While Head has insisted his aggression has not been a team directive nor any kind of personal pledge to take the game on, his scoring rate since his recall a year ago has put him among the most explosive middle-order men Australia have had.

His Test career strike-rate batting at No.5 (64.78) is the highest ever recorded in that position by an Australian (minimum 20 innings), narrowly edging a fellow South Australian leftie in Darren Lehmann (62.34).

Some may suggest that mark is just a natural progression of scoring rates given how Test batters have been emboldened in recent years, partially because of transferable skills from white-ball cricket.

But even among those leading the 'Baz-ball' revolution with England's Test side, which is from a small sample size the team that has pushed the boundaries of attacking batting more than any other in history, only one can match Head's rapid scoring rate.

Since the beginning of last summer's Ashes, just two batters (minimum 300 runs) have a better strike-rate than Head's 81.92 – England's recent Test entrant Harry Brook (99.46), as well as India's Rishabh Pant (91.44).

Over that period, Head is scoring faster than the likes of Jonny Bairstow (73.94), Ben Stokes (62.28) and Joe Root (60.88). The next quickest Australian is Marnus Labuschagne at the relatively sedate rate of 57.80.

By comparison, Adam Gilchrist's fastest strike-rate during a calendar year was 93.21 in 2003, the only year one of Test cricket's most effective middle-order aggressors scored at faster than 90 runs per 100 balls. Gilchrist's career mark was 81.95.

The numbers show Head, who passed 2,000 Test runs on Sunday, is scoring more quickly as his career progresses, with his second thousand runs coming at a considerably quicker clip than his first, though he has stressed he is simply following his instincts.

"I guess it's looked like there's a bit of a (aggressor) role there, but I haven't seen it that way and it hasn't been communicated that way," Head told cricket.com.au before this Test.

"I've been going out, playing the way I want to play and summing up the conditions.

"Moving the game forward is the way I've always tried to play, and I've always enjoyed playing that way.

"It comes naturally, so I think what we've seen over the last little bit since I got back in the (Test) team is a bit more of my natural game plus having the confidence to be able to go out and execute it.

"It also helps that the fundamentals around my technique are all sound at the moment, which gives you the added confidence to play the game on your own terms."

Head came into this Test in hot form, having posted scores of 99, 175 and 38no against West Indies, yet the strength of the South African bowlers combined with at-times perilous batting conditions at the Gabba made this by far his most influential innings of the summer.

Called into action late on day one with the Aussies struggling, he was initially watchful in scoring just two from his first 16 balls.

But it did not take long for him to start fighting fire with fire against the likes of Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje, taking advantage of any width with a succession of devastating cut shots.

He smeared Lungi Ngidi for a breathtaking six over square-leg to bring up his fifty on day one, and finished with 13 boundaries in a classic counterattacking performance.

Captain Pat Cummins called Head's innings the difference in the match.

"Yeah it was (the difference) - going against the flow of the whole game," said Cummins.

"Sometimes these types of wickets when the batter puts some pressure back on the bowlers, it is hard. You feel the pressure on a bowler-friendly wicket.

"He was brilliant. We've seen a few of them now against the whole flow of the game. He just goes out there and changes the game.

"Incredible innings. Just keeps going. Keeps surprising us every single week. Just a huge part of the team."

Men's NRMA Insurance Test Series v South Africa

Dec 17-21: First Test, Gabba, 11.20am AEDT

Dec 26-30: Second Test, MCG, 10.30am AEDT

Jan 4-8: Third Test, SCG, 10.30am AEDT

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

South Africa squad: Dean Elgar (c), Temba Bavuma, Gerald Coetzee, Theunis de Bruyn, Sarel Eree, Simon Harmer, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Heinrich Klaasen, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, Rassie van der Dussen, Kyle Verreynne, Lizaad Williams, Khaya Zondo

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