Travis Head has hit back at former Australian players over their criticism of the current Test side, saying a group of past greats “put the bullet through a lot of players”. He also defended the surprise selection of Nic Maddinson ahead of the first Test against South Africa in Durban.
Head, Australia’s vice-captain, spoke at a press conference in Durban on Wednesday 7 October and did not name individual critics, the ABC reported. The first Test starts at Kingsmead on Friday 9 October at 6:30pm AEDT, according to cricket.com.au.
‘That’s the caper’
“I think it’s unfairly judged a fair bit from a group of past players, pretty much that put the bullet through a lot of players, which I think is unfair,” Head said, as reported by Fox Sports.
“But that’s what they’re paid to do. Some of them need a job, so they go after us, and that’s totally fine.
“This group is strong enough to deal with those sorts of things. That’s how it is. It’s unfortunate sometimes to have some of that feedback from a generation of players that we have huge respect for, but that’s the caper.”
Head also told reporters “it’s a completely different game” now, pointing to tougher batting conditions, according to the ABC.
Hayden’s criticism of the Maddinson call
The comments followed Matthew Hayden’s criticism of Maddinson’s call-up to the Test squad. Speaking on the All Over Bar The Cricket podcast, Hayden said Australian cricket was “promoting the greatest pile of mediocrity that we’ve seen in a generation of cricket”, The Sydney Morning Herald reported, and told selectors they were, “in my opinion, disrespecting first-class cricket”.
Head backs Maddinson
Head defended the 34-year-old New South Wales captain, who Fox Sports noted has overcome a battle with testicular cancer to return to the crease.
“It is probably a surprise only because he’s been sort of out of sight, out of mind over the last few years going through stuff,” Head said, according to Fox Sports.
“But he is a great human being and hugely talented.”
Laughing off a move down the order
Head also addressed suggestions he should drop to No.5 after a run of low scores against Bangladesh in August.
“I have laughed at a fair bit of it because if a traditional opening batter had pushed out the same sort of numbers in his first 20 innings, I think he’d be pretty safe and not talked about in the way that it has been talked about,” he said, as reported by The Sydney Morning Herald.
What’s next
Australia are expected to wait until the morning of the match to name their side, the Herald reported, with Maddinson, Cooper Connolly and left-arm spinner Matt Kuhnemann in contention. See the Australia XI we expect to see on Friday.
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