Head 'not a true opening batter' but happy to ride the wave

The left hand batter, who claimed a second Allan Border Medal, judges himself on helping Australia win rather than pure statistics

It was a move that arguably won an Ashes series in a single innings, and now seems set to remain Australia's plan for the foreseeable future, but Travis Head still doesn't see himself as an opening batter in the traditional sense despite slamming more than 600 runs against England.

Head had previously opened in very conditions-specific set-ups in India and Sri Lanka - and is a mainstay at the top of Australia's white-ball sides. But when he was promoted for the injured Usman Khawaja in the second innings in Perth last November. it set in motion a dramatic chain of events. Most immediately was a stunning 123 off 83 balls which secured a two-day victory that flattened England and, as history as shown, played a major part in ending the Bazball era with Travball.

Head followed that with big centuries in Adelaide and Sydney and while not enough for the Compton-Miller Medal as Player of the Series (that went to the equally superb Mitchell Starc), the 629 runs propelled him to a second consecutive Allan Border Medal.Related'Invigorated' Smith remains vital for uncertain batting order

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In the immediate aftermath of the Perth Stadium onslaught, there was debate about whether Head would retain the opening role. Now he appears likely to hold it through Australia's intense upcoming run of 20 Tests (21 if they make the WTC final).

"I don't know exact stats, but what have I played: 170, 180 first-class games. I might have opened in ten [12] of them," Head said "I think it would suggest that I'm not an opening batter, a true opening batter, [in terms of] what Australian cricket is known [for], I guess. Guys that have come through the grades opening the batting and played state cricket opening batting, and played Test cricket as opening batters.

"I think my game is conducive to playing well. I feel like I can do a role at the top. I'm at the top, but it's not [as] that true opening batter, if that makes sense. I know that I've still got to work continuously hard at the new ball. I know I'm going to make mistakes. That's okay. I'm very comfortable with where my game's at."

Given the delayed timing of this year's Allan Border Medal, Head was reflecting on the Ashes eight months after they had finished. For him, judgement of his own performances comes from his impact on matches rather than pure statistics, particularly when faced with more challenging surfaces.Travis Head picked out his runs in Barbados as also particularly satisfying•Randy Brooks/Associated Press

"I'd love to score hundreds, I'd love to be in the runs column all the time, but at the end of the day I'd just love to contribute to winning Test matches," he said. "I look at Barbados [against West Indies] earlier in the year where I was able to get a couple of 50s and win a Test match on a challenging wicket. It didn't look like hundreds and didn't look good, I guess, on the stat sheet, but I think I was able to really contribute to Test match wins.

"Very pleased to be able to back it up and be consistent in an Ashes. I think that's what everyone's comparing themselves to in Australian cricket over your whole career, how good you are in Ashes cricket. So to be able to put out those sort of numbers, not in a million years I thought I would be able to do that, but also in the same breath I would expect myself to do that. So hard place to be in terms of that, but just very pleased that we're able to win Ashes this year."

After the two Tests against Bangladesh this month, Australia will head to South Africa for three matches before facing New Zealand at home. Then comes the five-match Border-Gavaskar series in India and the one-off 150th Test against England. Next June and July is the Ashes. Head suggested that the way he, and the team, plays will vary across the different challenges.

"I'm always happy just to do what the team needs and what's required, and I just want to contribute to every Test match," he said. "So we've got a lot of opportunities to do that over the next 21 Tests over the next ten months. I don't sort of pigeonhole myself or expect anything in terms of performance. I just want to go out and play my role, whether that's setting a tone at the start, whether that's big hundreds, whatever sort of the series needs and is tailored to.

"We're going to play in a lot of different conditions over the next 12 months. It's going to require different efforts. It may not look like the traditional thing all the time. I just want to be able to play a role that ends up winning Test matches. So I'm very comfortable in the fact that it's not going to work every day. I'm not going to perform every day, but when I am able to, I hope it means that we're winning games of cricket."