Five players to watch out for in the Australia-New Zealand Test series

Australia and New Zealand – two nations who not only share borders but also share a riveting Test cricket rivalry. The first Test between the two sides took place in the year 1946 at the Basin Reserve in Wellington which Australia won by an innings and 103 runs. Since the 1985-86 season, the Trans-Tasman countries compete for the Trans-Tasman Trophy.

Sir Richard Hadlee played an instrumental role in the Kiwis lifting the inaugural Trans-Tasman trophy by finishing the series with 33 wickets in three Tests, including 15 wickets in the first Test in Brisbane. The series triumph (2-1) proved to be their only one down under till date. The only victory gained by New Zealand in this decade against Australia was at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart back in the 2011-12 season.

Even traditionally, Australia have overwhelmingly dominated the series. Out of the 17 sequences held so far, the Baggy Greens have won ten, including being the current holders of the crown. The BlackCaps have won three with the remaining four ending in a draw. The previous time the Kiwis regained the trophy was in the 1989-90 leg and managed to retain the same in the subsequent series in 1992-93.

The upcoming series would take place in Australia; however, their neighbours hold a slight edge this time as the higher-ranked side – New Zealand’s second against Australia’s fifth in the ICC Test rankings. The two teams have got eight players spread across the ICC Test rankings for bowlers and batsmen; hence, it should be a closely fought contest.

Ahead of the three-Test series commencing this week in Perth, we take a look at five players to watch out for:

Travis Head

A talented left-handed batsman, Travis Head received his first call-up to the Test team in the new-look Australian side which faced Pakistan in the UAE. Having made his limited-overs debut in early 2016, the ball-tampering saga that rocked the Australian cricket in 2018 opened the doors for him in Tests.

Head started off his Test career in the form of scoring a duck but bounced back to craft a patient half-century in the second innings that proved crucial in ensuring a draw for the tourists in the first Test in Dubai. In the following Tests against India at home, the southpaw had made starts; but could pass the score of fifty only in two out of seven innings.

He roared back with scores of 84, 161*, and 59* against Sri Lanka in the two-Test series that almost locked his berth for the Ashes. The South Australian again had a promising start against the Englishmen, having scored 35 and 51 in the first Test in the first Test. Post that, his highest score in the next six innings turned out to be 42*.

In the first Test against Pakistan, Head scored a breezy 24 off 29 balls before being caught behind. In this 14-Test career, the 25-year old has produced the spark on several occasions but not the much-required fire in most of his knocks. With just one century in 23 innings and no compelling score since the first Test in Ashes, Head would be eager to turn around his form before the home summer comes to an end.