This World Test Championship final is Australia's twentieth Test match within the two-year cycle. Four of their gamers have appeared in all of the video games. Travis Head has been a part of 18 of them. One of his absences was because of Covid in Sydney throughout the 2021-22 Ashes, however the different was when he was dropped.Head, unbeaten on 146 off 156 balls after the primary day in opposition to India, has now scored 1354 runs in this WTC at a median of 58.86 and strike charge of 81.91, and he can eye a double-century on Thursday. However, earlier this yr, he was not deemed worthy of a place within the first Test in opposition to India in Nagpur.

Whichever means the argument is spun with statistics, it would go down as one of many stranger choice calls in current instances, even when Head's earlier struggles in Pakistan and Sri Lanka in 2022 are factored in, however he insisted there is no such thing as a lingering resentment.

"It honestly doesn't faze me," he stated at The Oval. "Very privileged to be where I am and do what I do. We've got a very strong squad of guys, selection isn't always going to go your way, it hasn't in the past, that's out of my control. All I can do is be as consistent as I can be on the field, [and] off the field enjoy myself.

"Yes, I'd like to play each Test however that will not at all times be the case. That offers good perspective to moments like this. Hopefully I do not get dropped an excessive amount of sooner or later however it would positively occur … it does not give me further gasoline.

"I know certain decisions haven't gone my way in the past but I feel like I [have] got a fair bit to contribute to this team and [am] valued within the team. I've got the backing of the staff and the captain and the players so it's nice."

Like Nagpur, The Oval can also be a floor the place Head has been on the tough finish of a range name when he was omitted from the ultimate Test of the 2019 Ashes. This time his sixth Test century, and the fourth on this version of the World Test Championship, three of which have come at decisive phases of an innings, powered Australia to 327 for 3 on the shut.

"If you get it in the right area there's plenty there," Head stated. "As the game goes on, hopefully it gets a little quicker for us and we can find the right lengths, and I feel if you do that for long periods of time it can be a challenging wicket.

"That good size on the high of the stumps was exhausting work. And as we [saw] once they went to that short-pitched plan it wasn't essentially the most constant wicket, and the Dukes swings slightly so it made for some awkward moments."