Travis Head

Travis Michael Head is an Australian international cricketer. He is contracted to South Australia and the Adelaide Strikers for domestic matches, as well as the team Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League (IPL). He is an aggressive left – handed batsman who usually opens in limited overs and in the middle – order in Tests. He is also a part – time right arm off – spin bowler.

Early life

Hailing from Craigmore in the northern suburbs of Adelaide, Head played at underage levels for the Craigmore Cricket Club and Trinity College.

Head represented South Australia at both under – 17 and under – 19 level, making his debut in the National Under – 19 Championships at the age of 17. After making his name playing grade cricket for Tea Tree Gully Cricket Club, Head made his first – class cricket debut for South Australia in the Sheffield Shield at the age of 18 in early 2012.

He made a promising start to his career with three matches for South Australia, scoring his maiden half – century in his second match and falling short of scoring his maiden century in his third match with 90 runs against Tasmania.

He was rewarded at the end of the season with a rookie contract with South Australia.

Head married Jessica Davies in April 2023. Their first child, a daughter Milla, was born in September 2022.

Domestic Career:

• Head went on to play 18 under – 19 One Day International (ODI) matches for the Australian national team, including at the 2012 Under – 19 Cricket World Cup. He impressed with both bat and ball during the tournament.
• He showed leadership qualities when he captained South Australia to victory in the 2012 – 13 National Under – 19 Championships, being named Player of the Championship for the second consecutive year. He subsequently played a single Twenty20 game for the Adelaide Strikers in the Big Bash League, replacing the injured Kieron Pollard in the team.
• Head was one of six young Australian players to be part of the inaugural Ageas Bowl International Cricket Academy during the 2013 season, training at the ground’s facilities.
• In the early part of Head’s career, he struggled to reach his maiden first – class century, instead finishing with scores in the nineties on multiple occasions. Despite this he was able to score a List A century for the National Performance Squad against South Africa A in July 2014.

Indian Premier League (IPL) T20 Franchise Career:

• Head played for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 2024 Indian Premier League. He started the tournament with a 24 – ball 62 against the Mumbai Indians.
• On 15 April 2024, he scored a match – winning 102 from 41 balls against Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
• Throughout the tournament, he and Abhishek Sharma gave good starts to the team which made sure that they qualified for the final. He finished the tournament as the leading run – scorer of Sunrisers Hyderabad with 567 runs.

Major Achievements:

• Head was a key member of the Australian team that won the 2023 ICC World Test Championship final and 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup final, having been adjudged Player of the Match in both those finals.
• He also became the second player ever to score a century when batting second in a World Cup final.
• He also became the first player to score centuries in two consecutive ICC tournament finals in the same calendar year.
• Australian Domestic Player of the Year: 2022
• ICC Men’s ODI Team of the Year: 2022, 2023
• ICC Men’s Test Team of the Year: 2023
• Sheffield Shield Player of the Year: 2015 – 16