Australia great Ricky Ponting has backed Travis Head to bat up the order at No.3 during the upcoming Ashes series as part of a batting re-shuffle to "try and dominate" England.
The former Australia captain said that Head's aggressive style could give Australia the front foot early on in the highly anticipated series. He also suggested the move to allow more space in the side for Australia's all-rounders, Cameron Green and Beau Webster, in the middle order.
Ponting: Australia should 'try and dominate England'
“As a young bloke you used to come into the side as a No.5 or No.6 player and eventually you worked your way up and find yourself in a No.3 spot,” Ponting told SEN radio station. “So they could think about doing that with Travis Head, they could move him up to No.3.
“The way England play their cricket, to have someone like Travis Head coming in at No.3 and be able to put some pressure back on the likes of Jofra Archer and Mark Wood and these guys, that’s another way they could look at it if they really want to get on the front foot and try and dominate England through this Ashes summer.”
Head has batted predominantly at No.5 during his Test career, with 73 of his 101 innings being played in that position. He has scored all eight of his Test centuries at No.5 and averages 41.76 in the position.
However, positions at the top of Australia's batting order have opened up over the last year. David Warner's retirement led to several different options – including Head – being trialled as Usman Khawaja's opening partner, and Marnus Labuschagne was dropped from his long-time position at No.3 for Australia's series against West Indies in July. During that series, Green was picked as Australia's No.3, making a half-century and two 40 plus scores in his final three innings.
Green was unable to bowl in the Caribbean, but will likely revert to his role as a full-fledged all-rounder during the Ashes. The 26-year-old has played the majority of his Test career at No.6, but has batted at every position from No.3-7 in Australia's order.
Ponting: 'I can see our top order being Konstas and Khawaja'
Ponting also threw his backing behind Sam Konstas to continue as Australia's opener alongside Usman Khawaja. Konstas made his debut in last year's Border-Gavaskar Trophy, but was left out of the side in the following series against Sri Lanka, and for the World Test Championship final. He came back in against West Indies, but recorded four single-digit scores, including two ducks, over his six innings. However, he scored an attacking century in Australia A's first Test match against India last week.
“(Sam) Konstas has just done well and made a hundred for Australia A over in India, which is exactly what he needed, so I can see our top order being Konstas and Khawaja,” said Ponting. “I think the fact they’ve moved Green up to No.3 when they did in the Caribbean to me suggested they see him as that long-term No.3.”
Both sides are expected to announce their Ashes squads within the coming weeks, with the first Test set to begin on November 21 in Perth.
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