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Just how good a record does, popular Australian batter and frequent bowler assaulter Travis Head have in England?
This isn't just a statement; it could be argued that in the next few hours' time, this could well be one of the most important and glaring questions that the pantheon of Protea bowlers would be having in their mind, more like a puzzle that they'd hope to solve in the end, after all.
An aggressive batter and someone who can long continue a run-making steak, Travis Head headbutts his opponents with cracking exploits with the bat.
He bats with the same tempo with which a heavy metal guitar player strums the strings on the stage amid a live wire of a concert, batting with aggression and that familiar streak of brashness that isn't blinded by the ultimate purpose for run-making but clearly stems from the desire to dominate Australia's opponents.
How about that?
Truth be told, in Travis Head, Australians do honestly have a big stage player, someone who's the kind of talent that is truly geared up and spurred by the big match occasion, someone who'd love to play the role of a heartbreaker by taking down the one who's thought to be the popular, supposed winner of the contest.
He did that the last time around that his mighty Australian cricket team played a WTC final against India, scoring a brave and indomitable century. The 163 that came off just 174 deliveries would have even moved some of the most popular bowler destructors of their day to a sense of endless admiration; think AB, think Gayle himself and why not, David Warner and Matt Hayden?
That ton, his finest ever in England, circa 2023, one would argue, stunned India and gave Australia a lot to cheer about. And ditto for captain, Pat Cummins, a man perhaps rightly dubbed the heroic "Superman" of Australian cricket.
But as on date, what are some of the interesting numbers that Travis Head, the Test cricketer has in England? Let us find out:
Travis Head's Test records vs England
So far, as on date, Travis Head, the Test match player, has played his opponents rather well. No random statement this is; there's been some method to his madness and clear stat backing.
Thus far, on the whole he's played 56 Tests, and 93 innings. Now, 27 of those innings have either resulted in a fifty or a fifty plus score. That means on an average, you can expect to see Travis Head raising the bat to acknowledge a milestone in Australian Test whites in every 3.4 innings. Let's say after every three and a half innings, he either hits a fifty or a century.
Of the 93 Test innings for Australia, he's hit 9 Test tons and 18 fifties.
Furthermore, of his 93 Test innings from 56 Tests, 44 innings, and hence, 24 Tests have come overseas.
Let's break it down further and confine ourselves to England alone.
Of those 93 Test innings that he's played, from 56 Tests, Travis Head has played 9 Tests in England, which include 4 games in 2019, and later, 5 games in 2023.
He's batted in each of these innings and therefore has, on the whole, wielded a cricket bat in England on 18 occasions.
His twin fifties, one each at Lord's and Headingly, that culminated in scores of 77 remain his highest individual batting score in the country.
The only time he's hit a three-figure-mark against England in international Test cricket have come in Australia, not England, and that too, on two separate occasions. One each in Brisbane and Hobart. And on each of those times, Australia have won.
Applying that logic to South Africa also seems a tempting idea, especially since even against India when Head struck that captivating Test hundred, circa 2023, Australia won the contest, not India.
He has, as on date, hit north of 550 runs in Test cricket in England. The big question is, now how many more can he add to the tally as the final against the Proteas looms?
