Head leaves inconsistency behind

Travis Head says the mid-season intervention of the KFC Big Bash League last summer lifted him out of a frustrating form slump and sparked a golden run that culminated in his one-day international debut on Tuesday morning (AEST).

Head became the 213th man to represent Australia in ODI cricket when he was included for the clash against the West Indies in St Kitts, the 22-year-old falling for 1 as he chased quick runs in the final overs of Australia's innings.

Head's debut comes on the back of a watershed domestic summer; he entered the 2015-16 season without a century in state cricket but ended the campaign with at least one three-figure score in each of the three formats.

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And in an exciting indication of his true potential, Head has revealed that despite his breakthrough season, the inconsistency that dogged him for most of the summer left him frustrated and desperate for more. 

Head's performances in the BBL, he followed a memorable hundred on New Year's Eve in which he scored 56 off the final 15 deliveries in the match against the Sydney Sixers - with two more half-centuries as his Adelaide Strikers reached the elimination final earned him his maiden international debut. Adding to the occasion was having Strikers coach Jason Gillespie hand him his T20 cap ahead of the Australia Day clash against India in Adelaide.

Even though scores of 2 and 26 in that series meant Head fell short of selection for the ICC World T20 in India, despite the public backing of national selector Mark Waugh and spin legend Shane Warne during the BBL, the 22-year-old produced some improved performances when the Shield season re-commenced in February, including two more tons and a half-century as the Redbacks reached the Shield final.

"I was probably putting a lot of pressure on myself so the Big Bash came at the right time," Head told cricket.com.au last week of his early season form that saw him pass 50 just twice in 18 innings, the exceptions being a record-breaking double century in the Matador BBQs One-Day Cup and a match-winning 114 in a Sheffield Shield match against Western Australia.

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"It just enabled me to relax and hit the ball and the flow-on effect from the Big Bash in the back end of the Shield season was I was able to get some consistency.

"And that's the main thing I want to get in my game now. I want to be more consistent and win games of cricket, and the more I do that and the better the team goes, the higher honours come.

"I was pretty frustrated with the season going in flows, but in the end it worked out not too badly."

Head's BBL century on the big stage at the Adelaide Oval was one of the most memorable moments of the summer, but it was his incredible Matador Cup double hundred that he says spurred the Redbacks on to a successful season, where they reached the final of both domestic competitions for the first time in more than two decades.

On the opening day of the domestic summer, Head's 202 from just 120 balls - including 20 fours and 12 sixes - powered the Redbacks to victory over WA, reaching their victory target of 351 with six wickets and more than three overs to spare.

In conditions perfect for batting at the small Hurstville Oval in Sydney, Head joined his late Redbacks teammate Phillip Hughes and Tasmania's Ben Dunk as the only Australian males to have scored a double-hundred in senior 50-over cricket.

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It came after an off-season of soul-searching off the field and gruelling training on it for Head, where he reflected on a difficult 2014-15 campaign that ended with him being awarded the captaincy of the Redbacks, the youngest skipper in the state's 123-year history.

And Head believes the momentum gained from the record-breaking victory at Hurstville Oval continued on throughout a landmark summer for South Australian cricket.

"I found it hard in the first five games (as captain) of the season before," he said.

"I had a really good winter at home and sat back and reviewed how I went in those five games. It was a pretty tough season, we worn’t going the best and a lot happened off the field and on the field.

"It was nice to sit down and reflect and think this is what I really want to do.

"After such a hard pre-season, to be looking down the barrel at the halfway point of that game (against WA), we needed something special.

"And I was really satisfied that I was able to step up in a big game and to start a tournament like we did, it started the momentum that we could win from anywhere.

"And throughout the whole season we were able to find match-winners.

"Playing in two finals from where we were, I think it’s pretty scary where our squad can go being so young and playing the cricket we did."