Travis Head has been given another chance to play for Australia in the upcoming Ashes series after being dropped against India last summer.
The 27-year-old former national vice-captain has been seen as an up-and-coming talent for several years now, and his Test average of just under 40 is solid.
Despite that, the South Australian has never truly solidified his spot since debuting in 2018, and this summer’s five Tests shape as career-defining.
He struggled earlier this year playing for Sussex in England’s County Championship but comes into the Ashes off good form in the Sheffield Shield.
The Australian’s Robert Craddock believes Cricket Australia is hoping Head doesn’t continue the trend of South Australian batters not living up to their potential, and floated a move to Sydney as a good idea for the state captain.
“This is game on for Head this season, he’s a former vice-captain,” he told SEN’s Whateley.
“They quite like him, but just feel he never quite reaches his potential.
“There’s a group of South Australian left-handers over the years that have suffered from just not quite getting to where the game thought they would get to.
“David Hookes, Darren Lehmann, Wayne Phillips were all beautiful batsmen, they were outstanding batsmen, but I don’t think any of them played anywhere near as many Tests as they could have.
“They don’t want that to happen to Travis Head, which is half the reason they drop him to say, ‘We want more from you Travis’.
“They don’t feel the South Australian environment hardens him up.
“Dean Jones, the last conversation I had with him, he said, ‘I’d love to see Travis go to Sydney, where everyone eats each other but you come out a tougher player’.
“It was a fair point I have to say.”
Head beat out Usman Khawaja for the no.5 spot in Australia’s lineup, which captain Pat Cummins confirmed on Sunday.
Craddock believes Khawaja is a worthy backup and revealed there was a push to have the Queenslander selected for the first Test in his home state at the Gabba.
“So, he (Head) goes in on trial, Khawaja is the stand-by batsman,” Craddock continued.
“A group of senior players selectively were talking to selectors and saying, ‘You know what, if you’re going to put Khawaja in the squad you should play him, it’s going to be a heavy-duty deck at the Gabba’.
“But they (selectors) stood their ground.”
Head may have the chance to play at his home stadium in Adelaide Oval for the second Ashes Test, before the series travels to Melbourne and Sydney.
The venue for the fifth Test is still to be confirmed after Cricket Australia confirmed it would be relocated away from Perth.