Travis Head warns England after century vs India in World Test Championship final

Australia‘s Travis Head insisted that he will look to carry on from where he left off, for the rest of Australia’s tour of England after he finished with a superb 146* off just 156 balls on the first day of the World Test Championship Final against India.

‘If runs are presented to score, I’m always looking to score them. That was the theme at the start of my innings – to play within myself and try to find the middle of the bat,’ Head said, after putting on an unbeaten 251 with Steve Smith having arrived at the crease with Australia 76 for three.

‘I like to be positive around my scoring approach. I feel like I play my best game that way – whether it’s from three for 10 or three for 300,’ Head added.

Pat Cummins’ side ended the day unbeaten on 327 for three after India won the toss and Rohit Sharma chose to bowl first, with Smith himself ending the day on 95* off 227 balls. Smith would have almost certainly ended the day with a century of his own but was denied due to the new ball and a lack of strike, late on in the day.

‘Losing the toss, it was always going to be a challenging day so it was nice to contribute,’ said Head.

Travis Head has fired a warning to England after scoring 146 runs against India

The Australian star is in great nick heading into the Ashes series this summer

The 29-year-old was the leading runscorer during the last Ashes series with a strike rate of 86 and he brought up his first hundred on foreign soil at an even quicker rate, reaching his century off 106 balls in the evening session at The Oval.

‘It comes with experience. I’m in a nice little period of my life off the field and that merges into clarity and consistency,’ Head insisted, when asked why he looked a lot more assured than he had done during the earlier stages of his international career.

And Head spoke about how much he enjoyed batting with Smith during a partnership which lasted over 60 overs and will carry on on Thursday morning.

‘I’ve always said how much I enjoy batting with Steve (Smith) because of how much attention he receives as one of the best players in the world,’ said the 30-year-old. ‘So it sort of feels like you can sneak under the radar and it felt like that again today. He loves batting over here and it seems like he’s in a great space. He played beautifully again today.’