Travis Head has endured an extraordinary 12 months with the Australian cricket team.
Man of the match in both the World Cup victory over India and the World Test Championship triumph over the same opponents in June, it has been some ride.
Combine that with being dropped from the Test side in February and a broken hand that almost jeopardised his World Cup hopes and it’s been a career worth of drama and triumph in barely a year.
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Alongside all of that, however, has been a similarly dramatic period for Head off the field.
The South Australian and his partner Jessica welcomed their first child in September 2022, Milla Paige Head, and then got married in April this year in a beautiful ceremony in the Adelaide Hills.
And Milla might’ve just stolen the show at the World Cup, even considering her dad’s stunning knock of 137 from just 120 balls.
Mum Jessica posted a photo on Instagram of the 14-month-old raising a hand towards the Ahmedabad pitch with the caption “Go daddy!”
Jessica posts regularly about her family life to her 33,000 followers, including shots of a 3.5 month tour of the UK and Europe earlier this year that took in Australia’s triumphant Ashes series.
Milla is photographed putting a replica of the Ashes trophy in her mouth in one of the cuter photos.
Head’s fractured hand in September then had a silver lining from his family perspective.
While he would have already been in India with the Australian team, instead he was home recuperating and was there to see Milla take her first steps.
“There are always positives that come out of some of these things (the injury break) and this has been a very busy year,” Head said in a chat with Cricbuzz.com last month.
“It’s always nice to spend some time with the girls at home, I’m always going to take that, and I prioritise that.
“No doubt there are some frustrations obviously being injured at home but take the positive out of it.”
As we all know he didn’t need to worry as Head would return in time to prove pivotal to the Cup triumph, producing man of the match efforts in both the semi-final against South Africa and the final.
Head’s teammates were in awe of his World Cup-winning innings that even left the South Australian star in disbelief.
The backing of selectors as Head recovered from that broken hand suffered before the tournament proved crucial in Australia’s surge to a sixth World Cup.
But ultimately it was Head’s faith in his ability to learn from previous experiences in India, which included being dropped from the Test team in February, and his stunning innings of 137 proved most telling.
Head put on 192 runs with Marnus Labuschagne to seal a victory that left him in disbelief.
“Not in my wildest dreams did I think I’d be here,” he said as he soaked up the win.
“It’s hard to put into words how it felt. I felt so in control with ‘Marn’ out there. We spoke today about not leaving anything on the table and not leaving anything to chance.
“To imagine getting a hundred in a World Cup final, not knowing if I was going to be here, it’s crazy.”
Steve Smith, who managed just four, marvelled at Head’s capacity to take on the Indian spinners, scoring 63 from 59 balls and three of his four sixes off Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav.
“The show he put on was just incredible,” he said.
“He took the game on even when we were 3 for 60-odd, just kept going, kept playing to his strengths.”
Glenn Maxwell, who was called on to hit the winning runs when Head was dismissed, said his capacity to survive and then thrive under the ultimate pressure was a sight to behold.
“That ball striking, under pressure in a final, was second to none,” he said.
– with NCA Newswire
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