'I'll do it, I should do it': The call that flipped the Perth Test script

Travis Head has played whirlwind innings before, but the 123 he ripped out of a tense Ashes chase in Perth was different. Not just because of its speed, or because it came in the fourth innings of a two-day Ashes Test, but because of how he'd quietly been preparing himself for a new role, and when granted an opportunity on a grand stage, unlocked it in devastating style.

For a while now, Head had been nudging the idea of opening in conversations. David Warner's retirement had left a vacancy at the top, and although the leadership group tested various combinations, Head kept planting the seed. "I've done it in other formats. Could there be an opportunity to do what Davey had done… I've done it in international cricket a bit now. So I brewed the idea, but I can also see that (Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith and himself at) three, four and five has worked pretty well."

Curiously, the middle-order core had all tried their hands at opening in Test with Head also granted that role, albeit for only eight innings and in the subcontinent, where he can take on the game before the spinners come into action.

"I understand where Ron [Andrew McDonald] and Pat [Cummins] are at, so all the conversations have been pretty fluent. We have a great relationship, and that's how they wanted to build their team around us at three, four and five, and it's worked pretty well, but I'm always putting my hand up. If the team requires it. I'm more than happy to do it and keep the option there," he said after the game.

When Australia came off for Tea on Day 2, they faced a chase of 205, needing to get the highest score of the match, in the final innings of a Test played on a tricky pitch. The leadership group was again debating the opening combination. Usman Khawaja's renewed back troubles and time off the field had ruled him out of opening alongside debutant Jake Weatherald for a second time. There was even a discussion about sending Nathan Lyon up front to blunt England's new-ball spell. Before that idea could gain traction, Head volunteered.

"We came off at the tea break and we were umming and ahhing who to put up top and Heady was like, 'I'll do it. I should do it'… I was like, 'Go for it'. So Trav took it on and played one of the great Ashes knocks," Steve Smith said.

If the call was impulsive, the conviction behind it was not. Head felt the pieces had aligned. "I just felt like the moment was right, batting with Marnus and Smudge at three and four feels right… I felt like everything lined up. That was the right decision. I was pretty bullish around the fact that I felt like I could do it again."

What followed was a blur. The early strokes came cleanly, the tempo rose almost without conscious effort, and Weatherald's own nerves settled during their opening stand of 75. Once Head sensed England drifting, he went up through the gears, and the chase collapsed around him. His hundred, lashed off just 69 balls, turned a tricky ask into a one-session procession.

"I was just pleased with the way I started and sort of when we got around that 40, 50 partnership, it felt like it was right there for the taking. I felt like I lined them up pretty well. I go by process, and I thought my process for 30 balls was pretty good."

The early finish in Perth means Australia will disperse for an extended break before regrouping in Brisbane for the day-night Test. With the Head experiment yielding such emphatic dividends, the temptation to make the switch permanent will be strong, particularly with Khawaja's injury concerns hanging in the background. But Smith, still digesting the whirlwind he had just watched, wasn't moving the chess pieces too quickly.

"Let's digest this first. The last couple of hours has been pretty incredible and it's probably too early to say anything on that."