Travis Head has spoken for the first time about how he shut down a dressing room ball-tampering plot as captain of his state, and why the memories of “sandpapergate” remain key to how the Australian team now plays the game.
asserted
team → speak → game
Eight years ago, Head was 24 years old and about to start playing a lot more often for Australia, having seen Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft cop heavy punishment for their parts in the Newlands scandal.
asserted
Smith → start → scandal
It’s in that context that Head swiftly slammed the door shut on a discussion about whether the SACAs needed to be more aggressive in the way they managed the ball to make it reverse swing.
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it → ’ → ball
Some players held suspicions that other teams were still sailing close to the wind in how they prepared the ball to reverse.
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ball → hold → wind
Head went as far as to tell those making the suggestion that they would lose their place in the side if they attempted to tamper in line with what they believed some opponents were doing.
asserted
opponents → go → what
SA had long been saddled with the perception that their state team was not as “hard” as others, and it was a moment in which Head – backed up by his South Australian deputy Alex Carey – put the game first.
asserted
Head → saddle → game
“I made a pretty strong stand at that point, and I was captain at the time, that they weren’t going to be in the dressing room if that’s the case, if that’s what [they want to do],” Head told this masthead in Durban ahead of Australia’s first Test in South Africa since the infamous 2018 tour.
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Head → make → tour
“I didn’t care what other teams did.
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teams → care → what
I didn’t care if we were facing it.
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we → care → it
“I just knew what a couple of close friends had gone through, and knew what the [Australian] team had gone through, and the flow-on effect of that.
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team → know → that
I don’t care if we’re bottom of the table, as long as we play the game the right way.
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we → care → game
‘You never play better when you’re tense and feel pressured’
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you → play → ?
Head declined to go into further details about the discussion, including exactly when it took place, but said that the current team, led by Pat Cummins, would never forget the importance of keeping cricket in perspective: the 2018 team had lost their moorings and paid a heavy penalty as a result.
“It’s driven from Pat.
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It → decline → Pat
Pat’s always said it’s a game, and it’s not do or die,” Head said.
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Head → say → ?
“If South Africa play really, really well, and we lose 3-0, that’s OK; it’s not the end of the world.
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it → play → world
We’ll wake up tomorrow.
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We → wake → ?
I think that then brings in, I guess, that freer side of yourself to go out and express yourself.
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I → think → yourself
“We’ve seen other teams around the world hold on to certain things or think it’s the most important thing they’re ever going to do, and sometimes you can play on that.
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you → see → that
You can see that they get tense and feel pressure, and you never play better when you’re tense and feel pressured.”
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you → see → pressure
Head is critical of some of the extremes he sees in the way Test cricketers are judged and critiqued, and said it was duly vital for the players themselves to stay level amid the madness.
“Yes, we’re playing in front of billions of people.
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we → see → people
Yes, it’s important,” Head said.
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Head → ’ → ?
“Yes, everyone’s got you scrutinised to the absolute tip of it, every single day.
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you → get → it
The game’s changed a lot over even the little period that I’ve played it.
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I → change → it
“It’s not just ‘they batted well and they bowled well’.
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they → ’ → ?
It’s their career is over.
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career → ’ → ?
That team’s shit.
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team → ’ → ?
That team’s not.
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team → ’ → ?
Do you know what I mean?
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I → know → what
So if you can’t enjoy it within the four walls, then you’re never going to.
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you → enjoy → walls
“That’s the one little piece that we’ve got to keep it sane, I guess, because everything around us is pretty much chaos.”
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everything → ’ → us
Head had some fun with his teammates when he claimed an unexpected catch on the boundary in the final over of their warm-up game in Potchefstroom this week, wheeling away in celebration as though the moment was as important as his blinder to catch Rohit Sharma in the 2023 World Cup final.
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moment → have → final
Head acknowledged his place as a back-up leader for both Cummins and Steve Smith in the three-Test series, which begins on Friday in Durban.
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which → acknowledge → Durban
It will be the first time the Australians have played Tests in South Africa since the acrimonious 2018 series.
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Australians → play → series
“There’s a world where I can see it not bothering me too much,” he said laconically of the day he might be captain.
uncertain
he → ’ → day
“I think I bring something to this team.
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I → think → team
Well, I hope I do, and it doesn’t have to be in that [captaincy] space either.
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it → hope → space
“So I’m really, really enjoying where I’m at.
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I → enjoy → where
It’s an exciting 12-18 months, but also a few years in Australian cricket.
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It → ’ → cricket
I want to be as involved as much as I can and support and help everyone and just be me.”
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I → want → everyone
Aside from being vice-captain, Head is now the main ball shiner for the team, and said the reduction of reverse swing in the international game since 2018 was a combination of ball management methods and conditions.
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reduction → say → methods
…and 27 more, not listed.
The Aporia
