Perth: It was 50 years ago on a lightning fast WACA Ground pitch that Roy Fredericks scythed the greatest innings ever played against pace: 169 from 145 balls against Dennis Lillee, Jeff Thomson, Max Walker and Gary Gilmour.
On Saturday at Perth’s new stadium over the Swan River, Travis Head did better than that. Making the impromptu decision to replace Usman Khawaja as an opener, Head crashed his way to 123 from 83 balls on a pitch that had terrorised all comers.
Australia’s Travis Head celebrates his century on day two of the first Ashes Test. Credit: AP
Fredericks’ innings was legendary but a one-off, as Australia went on to beat the West Indies 5-1. Head’s pyrotechnics reasserted his place as the most dangerous big-occasion batsman in world cricket. He also knocked the English flat with a starburst of shots that will surely define this Ashes series.
At lunch, it had been briefly possible to imagine something similar to last year’s Perth Test against India, where the tourists occupied the crease for more than 134 overs to set an impossible target for Pat Cummins’ team.
But to do so was to reckon without one of the enduring truths of the “Bazball” era for England: for better or worse, it is wiser
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