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Travis Head no longer a T20, ODI outcast

Rob ForsaithAAP
Australian selectors are confident Travis Head's Ashes form can extend into Twenty20 cricket.
Camera IconAustralian selectors are confident Travis Head's Ashes form can extend into Twenty20 cricket. Credit: AAP

Travis Head is set to be given a chance to become a three-format threat for Australia, with selectors confident his red-hot Ashes form can extend into next month's Twenty20 series.

Head, who hasn't played a white-ball match for Australia since 2018, was the most notable inclusion in a 16-man squad named for the five-match series against Sri Lanka.

The left-hander first made his name as a swashbuckling batter, memorably celebrating New Year's Eve in 2015 with an unbeaten century in 53 balls for BBL side Adelaide Strikers.

Head was rewarded with one-day and T20 debuts for Australia in the ensuing six months, only to fall out of favour long before the ODI World Cup in 2019.

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Chairman of selectors George Bailey believes the time is right for Head, fresh from player-of-the-series honours in Australia's dominant Ashes, to be given another chance in limited-overs cricket.

"It's one of those conundrums that a number of players face, when they do get a bit of a run in one format or the other. Be that domestically or for the national side," Bailey said.

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"It quite often comes at the expense of another format.

"But Trav is a very talented cricketer across all three formats.

"He's a quality striker of the ball.

"We're just looking to get him involved in as much of the white-ball stuff as we can."

Australia will host the T20 World Cup in October, while they will travel to India for the next ODI World Cup in 2023.

"He provides a little bit of flexibility," Bailey said of Head.

"Obviously there's not going to be a huge amount of change from that World Cup crew we had last year.

"But what we are after are really specific replacements and (providing) opportunities for guys, should the need arise to use them in the lead up to October."

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