Travis Head on preparing for Oman in Australia's world cup opener
04/06/2024
Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados
04/06/2024
Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados
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00:00 How happy were you when you got the win?
00:13 Yeah, it was nice to get out, I guess back into the tournament.
00:17 You don't, you sort of don't train too much, so long tournament.
00:20 So it's nice to have a little bit of a spell and then get back into it.
00:24 Disappointed about this afternoon, would have not minded another hit, but maybe it's a sign
00:28 for tomorrow.
00:29 Try and be as fresh as I can and ready to go.
00:30 And just about, you were the key man in that early, and what's happened to you in the last
00:31 literally few months, you went through that phase where you weren't considered for this
00:32 format, but the idea that you have, can you just take us through that, where you're at
00:33 in your training right now?
00:50 I guess, yeah, it's where it needs to be to be in the team and trying to do a job that's
00:55 necessary.
00:56 I was lucky, I guess, the game plan that the Sunrisers wanted and used was very similar
01:04 to how we want to go about it here.
01:05 So I guess for me, it was off the back of the T20 stuff I've done in the last 12 months
01:10 in this team, trying to emulate the same sort of stuff.
01:14 So nice to have a bit of a rhythm, nice to have a blueprint going into a tournament like
01:17 this on how I sort of want to play.
01:19 Like, it's not going to happen every time, but it's been a nice little period to have.
01:23 There was a lot of focus on how you went into power play and all the key things around your
01:30 play, but you also did speak at some point during the IPL about your play and your split
01:34 and just how you were playing the most of that.
01:36 How important is that going into a world cup where all the Suns will be going to the final
01:41 game stage?
01:42 Yeah, it's something that I guess around training and whatnot in India that I had in the back
01:46 of my mind.
01:47 So focus was to try to keep working on that part of things when you get outside the player
01:51 pile or in the power play when we see it.
01:53 So yeah, like I said, it's not going to happen every time.
01:57 It's going to be challenging throughout this tournament, but the successes that I was able
02:00 to have in some part of the tournament with what I'd worked on was nice.
02:04 So be able to back the plans that I want in the tournament.
02:11 Have you had one session with the full group together?
02:22 What's the feeling around the group?
02:23 Yeah, all these groups play a lot together.
02:25 And I guess a lot of guys have played a lot of T20 cricket and I know someone like me
02:29 is fresher back in the squad, but being around this sort of environment, the whiteboard team
02:33 doesn't really change much between both formats.
02:35 So I think we come to expect what each guy's plans are and what we want to achieve and
02:40 how we want to do it as a squad.
02:41 And yeah, I think it was just the excitement of getting the boys back together when we
02:45 finally did all get here.
02:47 It was some tough travel, but now we're here and yeah, the session yesterday, yeah,
02:53 had that same energy and there's no doubt that will flow into the early stages of this
02:56 tournament.
02:57 Have you had a chance to have a look around the club?
02:59 They've obviously been beautiful, the caravan.
03:01 What's your thoughts on this club?
03:02 No, I love it here.
03:03 So we've had a great time.
03:04 Nice to have the family here as well.
03:06 So yeah, we were able to see a few things and I'm sure we'll over the next, we'll be
03:10 here for a few more days.
03:12 So, but yeah, looking forward to the tournament.
03:14 It's a great place to be and haven't been back here for a long time.
03:16 So nice to enjoy the stuff off the field as well.
03:20 You're going to play association Oman.
03:23 You haven't played Oman in that before.
03:26 How do you see your opening match against the Soros Menos compared to what you are?
03:32 So how do you think the game against Oman will be?
03:35 An easy game or do you think the associations have in them to put up an upset?
03:41 You've got to take everyone on face value and everyone as each of their own.
03:45 And like we said, we want to start the tournament well.
03:48 So I know everyone's very excited about getting into the game stuff.
03:52 So yeah, in terms of who we're playing, I don't think everyone's too worried about who
03:58 we play or how we go about things.
04:00 We just want to make sure we're playing well and make sure that we're doing everything
04:04 we want to do to play the best cricket we can.
04:07 Do you think playing against a big team at the start helps the team or playing against
04:12 a tougher opponent will help?
04:14 Not really.
04:15 I think, yeah, you're going to play everyone at some stage.
04:18 I guess we know who we're playing in this group stage.
04:20 We hope to play well against everyone.
04:22 So yeah, we plan playing exactly the same and prepare the exactly same way for every team.
04:28 And not only on-field consistency, but off-field consistency on how we go through our plans
04:33 and what we want to try and achieve.
04:35 So guys will do that differently.
04:38 Each guy has different ways of going about things pre-game.
04:40 So do them well and then make sure we perform well.
04:45 What do you actually know about prep?
04:49 Watch bits and pieces.
04:50 But again, like I just said, about guys, different prep.
04:54 Mine's pretty relaxed.
04:55 So at some stage over the next tonight or tomorrow, I may have a quick look at some
05:00 of the guys.
05:01 But again, you can't take a lot of stuff off.
05:04 You'll get heaps of footage.
05:05 But for me personally, I'll probably just watch a little bit in the warm-up, sort of
05:08 try and get a rough idea on who's who.
05:10 A little bit like I was in India as well, just sort of see the bowl-throughs going through
05:14 so I stand somewhat near them in the warm-up and have a look at what's going on around
05:18 the bowling stuff and then stay pretty calm and relaxed.
05:23 Talk to Tom, the analyst, here about how they stack up in the power play and I'll try and
05:28 worry about that part and then take it from there.
05:32 I guess we want to try and get off to a best start in the power play we possibly can.
05:35 So try and get a bit of a lead in on how they'll use guys and what they've used in the past.
05:40 Try and get a rough idea who those guys are and then probably just watch them live in
05:44 the warm-up and get a feel for what I'm coming in to expect.
05:48 Is that going to be a season-wide split?
05:54 How will most of the group do this?
05:58 It might be out there, it might be a little bit different.
06:03 Yeah, it may well be.
06:05 I didn't see heaps of today but it looked like it was pretty free scoring for a bit
06:10 there and they got off to a really nice start.
06:12 So probably two different types of games in the first two years.
06:16 So again, it's a bit of the unknown.
06:19 I guess you draw back on experiences and blueprints, see how you want to do it.
06:23 Sometimes when it spins more in the power play it can be difficult but it can then lend
06:27 itself to more scoring.
06:29 It gives up the stumps a little bit more and I guess you draw back on some of the experience
06:33 you had from my side of things in some test stuff in India and some real times in one-day
06:38 careers like Sri Lanka and a few places where it's really spun hard that you draw back on
06:42 where your strengths are and where you want to go after it.
06:46 I was just asking about the way you represented the young players.
06:50 How do you handle them personally?
06:54 How do I handle them going today?
06:55 I had a nap today.
06:56 That wasn't it.
06:57 How do you handle the guys?
06:59 Oh, again.
07:00 Sorry, what I meant to say, if that happened to you.
07:02 Yeah, if that happened to us.
07:03 Yeah, deck of cards.
07:06 No, you can't control that much.
07:10 I was at a Champions Trophy a few years ago when it rained through all of England and
07:15 you can't control that.
07:16 A little bit like before, all you've got to control is how you prepare and how you play.
07:20 That stuff will take care of itself.
07:22 Hopefully it stays away.
07:25 Yeah.
07:27 And although you're not the captain, you know a bit about the likes of Arnold?
07:30 Yeah, I'm dirty that Mitch isn't doing the pre-match meeting that I've had to come down
07:34 as well.
07:35 He's off to a bad start.
07:37 Pat would have been down to giving you a team, but we'll have to wait for Mitch tomorrow
07:40 at the toss.
07:41 Yeah.
07:42 Just a quick one.
07:43 You spoke about the way you went about your planning with the Sunday match.
07:48 It was a bit of a mistake.
07:50 I'm hoping to find out today, I don't think, with David O'Neill, is it very similar to
07:54 what you had to do?
07:55 Did you see some of the later options you showed by then?
07:57 Yeah, I think so.
07:59 I see differences both left-handers, but I think we complement each other well, a little
08:02 bit like Abiy and myself did.
08:04 So, yeah, I think looking back at the times David and I batted, he's exceptional against
08:09 Spin in the power play.
08:12 More so, and Abiy's strengths were against Spin, so that wasn't hard to go by, like how
08:17 we come off each other.
08:18 And I think David and I were saying we had some really strong partnerships together, faced
08:22 a lot of different plans, teams would come differently.
08:24 Omar will come different to England, and England will come different to Nibiru.
08:28 So, from David and I's perspective, going through who they potentially may have and
08:32 then who we set up better at and who we feel like we've got to play on, and then we just
08:36 go by there is how it's normally worked.
08:38 I haven't had many conversations with him about that sort of stuff yet, but it becomes
08:43 pretty natural for our partnership and our relationship.
08:45 So, yeah, we'll pick our targets that we both feel like we're a chance against, and then
08:50 we'll go from there.
08:51 Just one more, like the idea, because of the impact, it felt like you barely killed it
08:57 at all.
08:58 Do you need to get back into the mindset of, "I can't just bat against the inside, I have
09:04 to be like," is it something so hard?
09:07 Yeah.
09:08 A couple of runs for yesterday, I felt it a bit differently.
09:11 No, yeah, it wasn't by design, I felt like it was more match-ups where Abhishek could
09:17 bowl left-armers and I may potentially bowl in a couple of games.
09:21 Obviously, with Dan the coach, it was how each game sort of matched up.
09:25 So, at first, after the tournament, I was, and then I got back fielding and then had
09:30 a slight, I rolled my ankle at one point, so then I missed a couple of fielding efforts
09:35 and then I was all good by the end and fielding again.
09:37 So, it really just worked on how the team set up and one of the opening batters had
09:41 the miss being technically maybe the worst bowler on the team.
09:44 So, but yeah, no, it'll be fine.
09:47 I'll find somewhere to hide in the field, don't I?
09:49 Just want to ask, what has built up in this World Cup?
09:52 You've played, you've played, you've won teams, you've played a lot of World Cups.
09:57 I guess we play so much, the one day, I guess the one day World Cup didn't really feel
10:02 like a World Cup until we get down to the business end of it.
10:05 So, a little bit the same here.
10:07 You want to be winning every game, you want to be peaking at the right time.
10:10 So, for us, we start tomorrow, but also we want to do the right things, get the Super
10:14 8s and be peaking in the back end.
10:15 I think we did that really well in the one day tournament, in the one day World Cup.
10:19 Yeah, you want to be going fine at the right time.
10:22 So, we want to get everything right in these first few games, make sure we're in the right
10:26 position to accelerate in the back half of the tournament.
10:29 Cool.
10:32 Thank you.
10:33 Cheers.
10:34 Thank you.