Australia's Travis Head kisses the pitch after scoring a century during play on day three of the third Ashes cricket test between England and Australia in Adelaide, Australia, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/James Elsby)
With his 11th Test century coming at Adelaide Oval with his unbeaten knock of 142 runs against England on the third day of the Ashes Test at Adelaide, Australian batsman Travis Head became only the fifth batsman to score four straight Test centuries at the same Australian venue. Cricket legend Don Bradman (1928-1932) at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), England cricketer Wally Hammond at Sydney Cricket Ground (1928-1936), former Australian contain Michael Clarke (2012-2014)at Adelaide and former England captain Joe Root (2014-2017) are the other cricketers to have recorded the feat and former Australian captain Mark Waugh has showered praise for Head for achieving the feat.
“There’s nothing like a hometown hero in any sport, when the local boy comes good. The way he plays the game is so entertaining as well. You don’t want to miss anything that he does when he’s out in the middle. He is a bit like a Merv Hughes was in Melbourne or a David Hookes in South Australia. Travis has captured the imagination just with the way he plays. And a lot of people can sort of relate to it. I mean, he’s not your pristine athlete, is he? He’s got the big moustache. He’s fit for cricket, but he’s not going to … be a 200-metre athlete in the Olympics, so I think people relate to him,” Waugh told Fox Cricket.
Head had first scored a Test century at Adelaide in 2022, when he played a knock of 175 against West Indies. Head then played a knock of 122 runs against West Indies in January 2024. Last December, Head had played a knock of 140 runs against India during the day-night Test in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Friday’s century was Head’s 11 Test hundred of his career. The 31-year-old has an average of 43.1 in Test cricket. Whelk Head had earlier batted in the middle-order, the 31-year-old donned the opener’s role after Usman Khawaja suffered back spasms during the Perth Test. Waugh believes Head is becoming a world-class opener.
“He is becoming a world-class opener. I just had a feeling that it was made for Travis Head but you still have to do the job. He has been a little more conservative today, Travis Head, but that’s because the bowling has been good. He has respected the good bowling and they’ve also set quite deep fields for him. There’s been a lot of cover in areas where he does score boundaries. He’s been able to get ones through the offside, but (he has) not scored as many boundaries as normal. So (there is a) bit of a combination of those factors which has just slowed his scoring rate down a little.” Waugh added.
Head faced 72 balls to reach the 50-run mark and then took 74 balls more to complete his 11th Test hundred. Head was unbeaten on 142 at the end of the third day’s play at Adelaide. Earlier in the day, former Australian pacer Brett Lee had termed Head’s feat of scoring four straight Test hundreds at Adelaide if achieved as ‘Bradman territory’. “He goes through the gears when needed. He’s got a good defence and he loves any width and on this oval … if you ball wide to Travis, you’re going to get crunched. And I love what he’s done today. He got through that tough period … and if he gets up into that fourth hundred back to back, that’s Bradman territory,” Lee told Kayo Sports.
