It truly is a golden age for the novelty Travis Head T-shirt business.
They have been everywhere this summer, but particularly here in Adelaide where every other group of Australians have come adorned with one image or another of Head’s head.
The most popular depiction is of Head reclined in the change rooms after the 2023 World Cup final, speed-dealer sunnies in place, fingers in Wiggle position, and mouth comedically agape.
In the modern era of uber-professionalism, he might be Australian cricket’s last old-fashioned larrikin. And if this summer has taught us nothing else, it’s that Travis Head is now truly beloved across the depth and breadth of this country.
So you can imagine the fervour at Adelaide Oval, where home comforts extend from the pitch to the adoring crowd, as Head closed in on a critical century.
Head had been unflappable for hours, scoring with a restrained and casual ease. There was no need for a repeat of Perth, where he burst out of a cannon to shock England into submission, for England has never truly recovered from that day.
Here on day three in Adelaide, England was tidy but tired. It tried a number of tactics for Head, including a Bodyline throwback that briefly frustrated the batter without ever really threatening him.
But as the afternoon wore on it became clear that England’s only remaining recourse in this game would have to come via an absurd fourth-innings batting performance, and that centre stage today belonged to Travis Head and to Travis Head only.
Travis Head merch has overtaken the Australian cricket scene. (Getty Images: Darrian Traynor)
And then a strange thing happened. For the first time all summer, for years in fact, Head got nervous.
On 99 not out, the field came in and Head’s subconscious started saying the bad things to him. Suddenly “hey Travis, smack this one through backward point” became “gee Travis, don’t get out here”.
The crowd groaned and twitched with every dot ball. If you had never heard the sound of nervous laughter creeping out of 54,000 people at once, here was your opportunity.
It almost became too much. Head slashed a cut shot to Harry Brook at gully, and before the collective breath of Adelaide Oval had been inhaled, and before anybody even had a chance to compute what this moment could actually mean, the chance had been dropped.
The theatre of those 10 balls will become part of Travis Head’s legend. Few here will forget the day he put the Adelaide Oval crowd through the wringer, got dropped on 99 and then bombed Joe Root back over his head for four to reach his ton.
Head rarely does things simply, and never mundanely. They wouldn’t have his face on their shirts if he did.
Travis Head batted with total freedom, until the moment he reached 99. (Getty Images: Robert Cianflone)
These were essential runs too, runs that minute-by-minute drained England of its life, its purpose, its hope.
By the close of play the Australian lead was 356 and surging. By the time England finally begins its fourth innings, the required chase will likely be in world record territory.
And in truth, this wasn’t close to one of England’s worst days of the tour. The tourists were largely competent for most of the day, and even started it rather well as Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer combined with the bat to apply a little pressure back to Australia.
The Stokes-Archer partnership was noteworthy for its ordinariness, the sort of batting that has been successful in Test cricket for as long as it has been played, but somehow out of character for this England team.
Both Stokes and Archer defended good balls and looked to score off looser ones. A novel idea that surely won’t catch on, but on the third morning helped England into a competitive position.
Stokes’s slowest Test half-century bore great resemblance to his knock in Brisbane, not just in its resolute meandering but in the frustration that followed his eventual dismissal.
Stokes leapt in the air, head tilted back mid-roar with a fist clenched, before throwing his bat in the air and catching it again.
Ben Stokes was none too pleased to be bowled again by Mitchell Starc. (Getty Images: Santanu Banik/MB Media)
Some may have mistakenly compared Stokes’s reaction to that of a toddler who had just been told he couldn’t have ice cream for breakfast, but fortunately in this case the English captain was merely displaying to the world how much the game and this moment meant to him.
In that moment it really did feel like England may have been threatening a response. By stumps, that seemed a fanciful notion.
But despite its commanding position in this Test and series, Australia’s batting order is uncertain and in curious nick.
Jake Weatherald has made a good start to his Test career, but is a candidate now for an early LBW. His decision not to review a bad decision before lunch was odd, and speaks to a lack of confidence and comfort in his place in the side.
Marnus Labuschagne took a step backwards in Adelaide, especially in this second innings when he looked determined to square up and edge everything he could.
It was back to the Labuschagne of 12 months ago, when you could visibly see him overthinking things instead of reacting on instinct. Australia will hope it is a blip, as the last thing it needs is yet more conjecture around that number three position.
And then there’s Cameron Green, who at times this series has looked the best player in the world and in others entirely out of his depth.
This Test is a particularly low ebb for Green, two really poor shots at moments in the game where his team required a period of stability. Green has been afforded more rope than most by the selectors due to his blindingly obvious talent, but at some point his output will determine his fate.
Usman Khawaja batted well before succumbing to a Will Jacks long-hop. (Getty Images: Gareth Copley)
Usman Khawaja was great in the first innings and decent in the second, a showing not strong enough to really force the selectors’ hands and not poor enough to make him an easy out. His positional versatility means he can patch just about any crack in the line-up, which should make a few of his teammates nervous.
Beau Webster waits in the wings too, in his bright orange vest with drink bottles in each hands, wondering exactly what it is he ever did wrong in the first place.
These are questions that will be pondered over the Christmas break, but are also ones that realistically don’t matter much.
The Ashes may well be won within 24 hours, Australia’s command of this series total and England’s many failures laid bare.
A seismic Australian celebration is not far away, and nobody will need two guesses as to who will be at the forefront of it.
