On Sky there is a brilliant chat with a bobble hatted and head cold-y sounding Travis Head conducted by Mike Atherton and Ricky Ponting.
Head has been in blistering form across all formats for the past few years and has delivered on the biggest occasions – last year’s World Cup Final in India and the World Test Championship final at the Oval spring immediately to mind. He’s also so darn likeable.
Interestingly, he says he finds it harder the shorter the format, citing the pressure of strike rates in T20 cricket as something that plays on his mind whereas in Test cricket “If I’m not feeling great I can dig in for a bit and If I am feeling great I can go as fast as I like”.
He makes it all sound so simple eh?
He’s a rippah:
"Long may his form continue" 🤩
Australia captain Mitchell Marsh discusses the impressive form of Travis Head 🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/BE4JtuEJg7
It’s a bit cloudy at Headingley and the consensus is that it might move about a bit with the overhead conditions but then be pretty flat after that. Mitch Marsh admits he would have had a bowl first too.
Brook confirms that Jofra Archer has been replaced by Olly Stone. Australia have got some of their big guns back in the side – Maxwell, Hazlewood and Starc all return.
We are out there to score runs. If you get caught somewhere on the boundary or in the field, then who cares?”
These were the words of stand in Captain Harry Brook in the moments after England were drubbed by Australia in the first ODI at Trent Bridge. Brook was perhaps trying to set a defiant tone in defeat, reaching for somewhere between bravado and positive thinking but his turn of phrase ended up sounding somewhat glib.
His side were outplayed by the Aussies in Nottingham, Travis Head putting together another – in a nifty phrase coined by my OBO colleague Rob Smyth - ‘dirty masterpiece’. Slugging his way to 154*, the walrus moustachioed Head took England’s bowlers to the dry cleaner and then out for a steak supper before never calling them again.
Headingley is the venue for the second match of five in the series. England will be cheered on by plenty in the ground who deeply care, not least in forking out for a ticket and journeying to the ground to watch some live cricket before the summer disappears for another year.
Play starts at 11am BST and I’ll be back shortly to bring you the news of the teams and the toss.