Melbourne [Australia], November 25 : Former England pacer Stuart Broad advised the English pacers to create pressure and frustration in Australian opener Travis Head's mind and make him do "something outrageous" to get the better of him in the remainder of the Ashes series.
Another Head-storm was produced in the month of November after India in the 2023 World Cup finals; it was England at the receiving end during the Ashes opener at Perth. His 83-ball 123 helped Aussies chase down 205 runs on the second day itself with eight wickets in hand and deliver a massive psychological blow to 'Bazball' powered England ahead of the pink-ball Test at Brisbane from December 29.
The left-hander was promoted to open the batting alongside debutant Jake Weatherald as regular opener Usman Khawaja battled back spasms, and the move paid dividends. All of England's fast bowlers were on Head's hitlist, but Broad believes the visitors' four-pronged pace attack - that included speedsters Jofra Archer and Mark Wood - were too impatient and implored them to try different tactics when bowling to the hard-hitting batter throughout the remainder of the Ashes.
Broad, who sits fifth overall on the list for most wickets in Test history with 604 scalps, wants England's pacers to frustrate Head and get him to do something different to what he is accustomed to.
"What they could have done when Travis Head was really going, then you have to use your awareness to say, 'Let's get him off strike, let us let him to face one ball an over and it is a clip off his hip and he gets one and you do not let him face four, five balls an over and he hits a boundary in those'", Broad told Australian radio station SEN as quoted by ICC.
"And crucially, when you get him off strike, Marnus Labuschagne comes down to the facing end, you bowl dots at him and create pressure on him."
"Suddenly, you do that for forty minutes, and Travis Head gets bored of getting a single and tries something outrageous and might get out."
"That is what England could have done a bit better. Yes, we like to see this aggressive play, and it is always looking at the positive option."
"But sometimes, the positive option is to take the bite out of what is going on just to try and make Travis Head do something different. You cannot just let him keep flaying it for hours on end and end up with 120-odd off 80-odd balls. I think England could have done that a bit differently," he concluded.
Broad expects England to use the time off before the second test in Brisbane, which commences on December 4, to formulate new plans for Australia's batters, with the pressure on skipper Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum to find a way to get the tourists back into the series.
"It is the first time that I have seen Ben Stokes not have a tactical answer on the pitch," Broad spoke about Head's Perth masterclass.
"And that means full credit to what he (Travis) was able to do. When I reflect on what England could have done, it came as a shock. They have designed their mindset to Head coming in at number five. He opens the batting because Usman Khawaja has a back spasm."
"So, the plan is already gone. You have now got a new ball. 'Okay, what is the plan to Travis Head with a brand new ball? We have not even discussed this leading into this series, so you are a little bit scrambled," he concluded.