England head coach Brendon McCullum heaped praise on Travis Head after Australia took a 1–0 lead in the five-match Test series with a resounding eight-wicket win in Perth. Asked to chase 205, the hosts romped home in 28.2 overs, ensuring the Ashes opener ended in less than two days.
Head was the star of the match, smashing a 69-ball century to stun the English bowlers. McCullum said even Adam Gilchrist felt England had set a target big enough to secure victory. The coach didn’t mince words, calling Head’s innings one of the best he has seen from a batter under pressure.
“I thought 200 was actually a pretty good score for us to try and defend in the last innings. But the way Travis Head played was absolutely outstanding. It’s one of the best knocks I’ve seen in a pressure situation on a tough wicket,” McCullum told TNT Sports.
“I spoke to Gilly [former Australia wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist] about five minutes before their last innings, and he said, ‘I think you guys have got 30 too many’. I said, ‘I hope so’, but we might have needed another 230 the way that Travis played,” McCullum said.
Head stayed unbeaten on 123 off 83 balls, an innings studded with 16 fours and four sixes. He laid the platform with a 75-run opening stand before joining Marnus Labuschagne for a match-winning 117-run partnership for the second wicket. Brydon Carse eventually dismissed him, but by then Australia were already on the brink of victory.
