Travis Head Crushes England Once More, Haunting The Team He Helped Redesign

Head finished the day undefeated, just nine short of another century when rain halted play at the SCG. He returns knowing England still has no real solution. He has scored at better than a run a ball, never appeared rushed, and has dominated across five Tests.

His 69-ball century won the first Test in Perth, he smashed 170 in Adelaide to help secure the series, and even in the two-day defeat at the MCG, his 46 remained the highest score of the match.

How Head Became A Problem England Still Cannot Solve

During the 2021-22 Ashes, Head was only narrowly selected ahead of Usman Khawaja. At that stage, he had played only 19 Tests and had a strike rate below 50. Then the new captain, Pat Cummins, dragged him aside and encouraged him to play with freedom.

Head hammered 152 off 148 in his first innings of that series and immediately rewrote expectations. After missing the Sydney Test due to Covid-19, he returned in Hobart to smash another century off 112 balls and eventually claimed the Compton-Miller Medal. Since then, he has barely left the side, featuring in 42 of Australia’s last 43 Tests.

England simply could not control Travis Head. He scored at 86.02, Stokes bowled 42 balls to him without a wicket, and his two centuries powered Australia’s 4-0 win, prompting leadership changes that eventually brought Stokes in as captain. 

Even Stokes later admitted Head shaped England’s new mindset. "Him being allowed to go out and play the way that he has is why he has been so successful. He was so hard to bowl to in Australia." Although England contained him better in 2023, once Head moved to the opener in the 2025-26 series, he became difficult to stop again.

Head Targets Weaknesses And England Keep Paying

Throughout this series, Head has chosen his battles carefully. He has rarely forced the pace against Jofra Archer or Josh Tongue, instead going after others with authority. The defining visual of the 2025-26 Ashes remains Head punishing Carse repeatedly. He has struck him for 19 fours, five of which arrived in Sydney, along with four sixes.

Head celebrated his 32nd birthday between the fourth and fifth Tests and is playing like a man in full control. He reacts instantly to length, punishes anything too short or too full, and reaches a half-century in 55 balls by driving Carse.

"The way that he can score off the top of the stumps, both sides of the wicket," Root said, when asked what made Travis Head so hard to stop. "He makes your margins very small, and he's got such incredible hand-eye coordination. He's very good at putting bowlers under pressure at the right time and making it very difficult to build a sustained period of pressure over the partnership.

"He's always looking to throw punches back in his own way, and he's got a very clear method of how he wants to do it and trusts it. He's had a brilliant series to date… Credit to him: he's got a really good understanding of his game, and he's playing exceptionally well at the minute."

Across the series so far, Head has compiled 528 runs in four-and-a-half Tests, the biggest Ashes haul since Steven Smith’s 774 in 2019. With more batting ahead, the prospect of another Compton-Miller Medal looms, unless Mitchell Starc’s bowling continues to change matches on its own.