Practice makes perfect they say, but that doesn’t really always apply for Travis Head.

The Australian recovered from a fractured wrist to play his first match of this World Cup on Saturday and came out with flying colours as he authored a blistering knock of 109 off just 67 balls against New Zealand in Dharamsala.

While Head appeared completely switched on during his innings, it’s important to note that he could hardly practice since his injury in September. And even when he does bat at the nets, Head, by his own admission, doesn’t look too impressive.

According to a report in cricket.com.au, the opener was “scratchy in a 20-minute, match-eve tune-up on a tired Dharamsala practice wicket. He had not looked a great deal better in a longer session earlier in the week in Delhi”.

But once he padded up for the match against the Black Caps, Head was a different beast. The left-hander was at ease against a strong New Zealand attack. Two early Matt Henry no-ball free hits helped him get into the groove as he dispatched them for sixes.

Was he surprised that he found his feet so early? “After the way I batted over the last little week, probably a little bit,” Head said.

“The free hits definitely helped. After only a couple of hits in the nets at full tilt — and the training wickets are a lot different than in the middle — it was nice to get a few out of the middle at the start.

Travis Head during a training session ahead of the match at Dharamsala. Getty Images

“Then I just loved getting into the contest and felt like that was going to always happen once I got into the game.”

Australia’s batting coach Michael di Venuto endorsed Head’s natural flair for doing well on the stage.

“You don’t score runs in the nets, do you? There’s no adrenaline in the nets, there’s no competition. So for people like Trav, he gets his thrills out in the middle,” Di Venuto was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.

“We know he’s one that doesn’t need a lot of work before games. It’s fairly natural the way he goes about it. It’s just a matter of making sure his hand was right. He was really close last game.”

The long wait

Head’s 175-run opening stand with David Warner on Saturday showed how dangerous a threat the Aussie opening pair poses for opponents. That Head is desperate to prove
his mettle at the top of the order makes it even better for Australia.

Head made his ODI debut in 2016, but has got the opening slot only recently, after Aaron Finch’s retirement.

“I think that’s been a spot that I guess waited for, obviously, with (Finch) playing for such a long period and their partnership being so good.

“The limited chance I had I was able to take and sort of waited a couple of years for that spot to open up.

“So, that’s never guaranteed and I’ve got to perform and I’m lucky enough to be able to put a string of a few performances together that hopefully make that a spot where Dave and I have obviously got a great partnership.”