Head addresses 'disrespectful' awards night detail in admission about Cummins
Travis Head admits he thought Aussie captain Pat Cummins was a shoo-in to win the Allan Border Medal after discussing the bizarre nature of the awards night that was held while the Test team was away in Sri Lanka. Head and his Test teammates were 8000km away in Sri Lanka when he claimed the top individual men's prize at Australian cricket's night of nights.
It marked a sad first in the 25-year history of the Allan Border Medal that the winner didn't accept the award from the great man in person. And many fans described the situation as "disrespectful" to Border and questioned why Cricket Australia and Channel 7 couldn't come up with a better solution.
The truth is that the recent women's Ashes series - which Australia won in a historic clean sweep - and the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan meant the annual awards had to be held without the men's Test team present. And Head revealed during an interview in Sri Lanka ahead of the second Test, that he was still in the dark about whether or not he'd won the award during a pre-recorded interview that was played on the night.
The Aussie batter - who was a deserved winner after starring in all three formats for Australia - joked that he was glad he didn't have to get up and deliver a speech in front of everyone at the awards night. But the 31-year-old admitted that he thought his skipper Cummins was going to pip him to the Allan Border Medal after a similarly exceptional year for Australia in multiple formats.
The fresh Allan Border Medalist, Travis Head, chats with @beastieboy07 after claiming the medal for the first time on Monday night 🥇➡️ Listen to every ball from Sri Lanka on the 𝗦𝗘𝗡 𝗔𝗽𝗽!#SLvAUS 🏏 pic.twitter.com/kduhklubfU
— SEN Cricket (@SEN_Cricket) February 4, 2025
"It's nice being away and there was no expectation of a speech or anything," Head told SEN Cricket from Sri Lanka. "Obviously I did a little piece with Ron (Australia coach Andrew McDonald) which was quite humorous because we still thought it was a 'what if' a couple of days ago. And I still didn't quite think I'd got the job done (won the Allan Border Medal).
"I thought Pat was going to be a deserved winner so when I did the media a couple of days ago I still thought it was a 'what if' so that's why it was a bit awkward, a bit funny because we didn't quite know. But once I found out that it was real, it was quite surreal and nice to be able to celebrate accordingly... The energy and excitement from my teammates and (wife) Jess was quite cool."
Head says he's still pinching himself after becoming the first South Australian to claim Aussie cricket's top award, and join a list of legendary players to have represented the national side. "It's hard to believe, we've had so many great players so it's hard to believe I'm the first (winner from South Australia) but I'm very proud and I'm sure everyone at home is as well."
"Seeing the list come out of the previous winners and it's a pretty cool list, there's ridiculous players on it. To think that I'm on that list now is quite amazing." Head says while he took some time to celebrate the momentous achievement with his teammates and wife, his attention has now fully turned to the second Test against Sri Lanka in Galle, starting on Thursday.
Australian officials have decided to send young gun Sam Konstas home to play in the Sheffield Shield after deciding he would not be picked for the second Test and would benefit more from playing red-ball cricket for NSW. Konstas says he fully understands the decision and admits he's learnt a lot from the tour about playing in Asia and under vastly different conditions than he would in Australia.
Head says the touring experience would have been vital for Konstas and suggested the 19-year-old would regain his spot at opener for Australia in June's World Test Championship final against South Africa, with Head set to return to his usual position at No.5. "Sam's a big part of where we're going, there's no doubt about it," Head said. "Disappointed that he missed out on the first Test but great for him to be here, great for him to be experiencing conditions... Most likely I'll go back in the middle order and Sam will open."
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