Former Australia left-hand batter Rob Quiney is confident Travis Head can deliver the goods for the side coming in as opener, adding the Cricket Australia (CA) selectors should persist with the 28-year-old at the top of the order.
Head scored a smashing 69 runs off 57 balls and shared a 147-run opening partnership with David Warner in the inaugural tie of the three-match ODI series against England at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday.
Riding on the Warner-Head stand and an unbeaten 80 from batting stalwart Steve Smith, Australia chased down England's total of 287 with 19 balls to spare to take a 1-0 lead. It was the first ODI for the home side since the retirement of Aaron Finch in September against New Zealand.
Seeing the heartening performance from Head, Quiney feels chief coach Andrew McDonald should persist with the batter in ODI cricket."It's almost like the new girlfriend coming in and taking over," Quiney said on SEN 1170 Mornings on Friday.
"It was almost like everything was ok. They (Head and Warner) broke the back of England's bowling."They pounced on David Willey and they saw his lack of pace and got their partnership kick started. 147 off 20 overs... they broke the back of England's bowling.
This is a new partnership that's forming after we've seen Warner and Finch at the top of the order for so long," added Quiney.Head has played 49 ODIs yet has largely been in and out of the side. The 28-year-old's ended a four-year absence from the team in early 2022 when he scored his second century against Pakistan in Lahore, according to sen.com.au.
"He is still learning about the batsmanship part of it," Quiney added. "Travis needs to identify that he can turn this start into a really big hundred and still win the game. It's that balance of when to pull the trigger and when to go through the gears. It will be an exciting 10-12 months for Travis Head for the next World Cup."