Follow UsTravis Head will miss the final two T20Is against India to feature in the Sheffield Shield for South Australia as part of his preparation for the upcoming Ashes series, which begins on November 21. Head will line up for South Australia’s clash against Tasmania at Bellerive Oval, Hobart, starting November 9.
Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc, Sean Abbott, and Steven Smith will all represent New South Wales in the next Shield round. Smith, who scored 118 against Queensland in the previous round, will try to continue to fine-tune his game ahead of the marquee Test series.
Elsewhere, Scott Boland (Victoria), Cameron Green (Western Australia), Beau Webster (Tasmania), and Alex Carey (South Australia) are also set to feature in the domestic competition.
Marnus Labuschagne, who has already played three Shield rounds for Queensland - notching up two centuries - is also expected to continue, as he looks to strengthen his case for a Test recall.
Head, regarded as Australia’s ultimate middle-order aggressor in Test cricket, has been searching for form in the shorter formats. His recent returns - 6, 28, 29, 28, 8, 8, 5, and 31 in his last eight white-ball innings - underline his lean patch ahead of the Ashes.
Meanwhile, left-arm pacer Ben Dwarshuis will be available for the final two T20Is against India. The five-match series currently stands at 1-1, with the opening fixture washed out. The final two T20Is will be played in Gold Coast and Brisbane on November 6 and 8, respectively.