Travis Head in huge Aussie World Cup development amid injury heartache
The big-hitting batter fractured his hand before the Cricket World Cup in a huge blow for Australia.
Big-hitting Aussie batter Travis Head is targeting a return for the latter stages of the Cricket World Cup after confirming that his recovery from a fractured hand is going better than expected. Head suffered the injury before the start of the tournament in a massive blow to Australia's hopes.
The flashy left-handed batter has been sorely missed for Australia after successive defeats in their first two games against tournament hosts India and South Africa. However, Head has been training in the nets this week after having the splint taken off his broken left hand and is reportedly set to fly out to India on Thursday to join up with the squad.
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Scans have revealed that Head's hand has improved faster than expected and the 29-year-old could return to action after six weeks out, meaning Australia's game against the Netherlands is a possibility, even if Head does admit that's an "aggressive" date to target.
It's more likely that Head's return would come for the clash against trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand, who remain undefeated after their first three group games. The showdown against the Kiwis would likely be one of four group games Head could feature in with clashes against defending champions England in Ahmedabad, Afghanistan in Mumbai and Bangladesh in Pune to follow.
Travis Head 'excited' to join up with Aussie squad
"It's coming along well, and probably better than we hoped," Head said about his hand injury. "When we decided not to go with surgery, which would have meant a 10-week recovery, we were told it would be minimum six weeks with the splint before we could look at playing again.
"Going by that plan, the Netherlands game (on October 25) will be just under six weeks from impact which is a pretty aggressive date, so everything would have to go perfectly from here to make that deadline.
"But we'll just see how it progresses over the next few days and I'm excited by the prospect of joining the boys over there later in the week. I wasn't even sure I'd be able to bat when the splint came off but, apart from a fair bit of stiffness given I hadn't been able to use it for the past four weeks, I was able to hit balls and play a fair range of shots."
Head picked up the injury during Australia's South African tour on September 15 in the build-up to the World Cup. The 29-year-old has scored 2000 ODI runs at an average of 41.28, with three centuries and 15 fifties and his aggression and ability to dismantle bowling attacks has been sorely missing for Australia at the World Cup.
Pat Cummins' Aussie side under pressure
The captaincy of Pat Cummins has consistently come under fire, with former captain Michael Clarke among those to criticise the conservative approach taken by the Aussies so far. Clarke says Cummins got his tactics "wrong" in the previous loss to South Africa and urged the Aussie skipper to be more aggressive ahead of a crucial showdown against Sri Lanka on Monday night (AEDT).
Cummins' men will likely need to win six of their remaining seven games - starting with Sri Lanka - to qualify for the semi-finals. The Aussie skipper concedes his men have not been up to scratch but are "desperate" to turn things around.
"No doubt we haven't been up to the standard that we'd like to hold. We've been outplayed both games," Cummins said. "When we're at our best, we're putting big runs on the board, we're putting the pressure back on the opposition, us bowlers are taking wickets through the middle.
"We haven't been able to pull any of that together so far. We know what makes us a really good team. It wasn't that long ago we were No.1 in the world.
"After the last game, everyone was a little bit flat. But the last couple of days have been really good. Everyone has rolled up their sleeves and want to get to work and make amends. The mood in the camp has been fantastic. Everyone is desperate to turn it around."
with AAP
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