Travis Head refuses to discuss his batting position as Australia continues search for opening batsman

Australia star batter Travis Head has made it clear that he has no intention of stirring up any controversy by discussing his preferred batting position in Test cricket. With David Warner's retirement leaving a void at the top of the order, Cricket Australia has been searching for the right replacement. Various options have been experimented with, including pairing Steve Smith with Usman Khawaja as an opening partnership. Unfortunately, these experiments have not yielded the desired results. Most recently, Nathan McSweeney was given a Test debut in Perth against India, but he was unable to make a significant impact with scores of only 10 and a duck. As the team continues to search for a solution to their opening position conundrum, Head remains focused on contributing to the team's success in whatever role he is needed.

Left-handed Head was ready to take over the opening spot ahead of the series opener, but they went ahead with McSweeney.

However, he has decided not to express any desire about his batting position as he doesn't want to grab attention and make headlines.

"I don’t think it needs to be spoken about. I think it just creates too much bullsh*t really. That’s just my point of view. This happened to me the first time when I backed up a couple of mates - Marcus, Harris and a few others - who open the batting, and I come out and say ‘Yes, I do want to open the batting,’ and that creates a headline," Head told The Sydney Morning Herald.

Head said his words were twisted in the past, and doesn't want to indulge in the same conversation again as he just want to do whatever is right for the team.

"If I then say ‘no,’ which I did in support of those guys, and at that time, I had conversations where I knew I wasn’t opening the batting, so I was honest in the media. But when it was reverted around this year, it’s been ‘He never wanted it in the first place,’ which isn’t true. I want whatever is right for the team, but in the way I answered it, people interpret it in certain ways. So I’m done with talking about that conversation," he added.

Head, who opens the innings for Australia in white-ball formats, said that the batting position doesn't bother him much and is happy where the team management feels he is the best fit.

"I’ve never worried too much about where I bat, I don’t really care where I bat if I’m honest, I’m happy to bat where I best fit for the team. At the moment, it’s at five and it has been for a while. I’m playing a certain way. I’m not forcing it, and they haven’t directed me to say ‘Hey, this is the way we want you to play,' it comes naturally, and they said from the start they want me to play the way I see the game and attack the game the way I see it," he added.