New Delhi, Dec 10 2024-
Former captain Tim Paine has revealed that star batter Travis Head and his former Australian coach Justin Langer often had contrasting views on how to approach batting with the red ball.
Paine believes that since gaining the freedom to play his own way under Langer’s later tenure and the guidance of McDonald and Cummins, Head has flourished as a Test cricketer.
“I don’t think either of them will mind me saying this, but I think he and JL used to have a real difference of opinion,” Paine said on SEN Breakfast.
“You’ve got Test greats in commentary and you’ve got a Test great (Langer) that’s coaching and Graeme Hick at the time who’d scored 101 First Class hundreds as his batting coach (offering advice).
“They were trying really hard for him to work on his defence and it wasn’t the way he wanted to go about it, but he was a young Test player who was trying to impress and trying to stay in the team, so he was trying to please a bit of everyone.
“I think that’s been the major shift in his output because he is sticking true to the way he wants to play.
“At times he’s going to fail and at times he’s gonna have lean patches, but he’s going to be super aggressive, he’s going to play his shots and he’s going to try and be a match winner and we’re just seeing him blossom at the moment in all formats of the game.”
Head stole the spotlight against India in his home venue at Adelaide Oval, blasting 140 off 141 balls and leading Australia to a total of 337, which set up a dominant 10-wicket victory in the pink-ball Test. (Agency)
