‘Jeez, slow down’- German fan reveals how Travis Head’s ton spoiled his dream of watching Test with his father

One of the most famous hundreds in Test cricket, not just in the Ashes, is Travis Head's 83-ball 123. The circumstances under which the knock was delivered were just as important as the strike rate.  

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For once, Head went into white-ball mode against red-ball, causing havoc and bazballing the bazballers to give Australia a 1-0 lead.

Australia won the game by eight wickets thanks to Travis Head's incredible century, and 19 wickets were taken on the opening day of the contest that lasted two days.

Mitchell Starc took 7/58 as England scored 172 in their opening innings. Australia was stopped at 132 runs by Ben Stokes' fifer in retaliation. With 164 in the second innings, England set a target of 205 runs for Australia to pursue, and their tail wagged.

In Usman Khawaja's absence, Travis Head began the innings and destroyed the England bowling, scoring 123 runs in 83 balls with 16 fours and four sixes. On day two, Australia won the match by 8 wickets in 28.3 overs.

German fan reveals he’d be going back without watching one ball of Test cricket

One of them was a German fan named Alex Earle, who had to change plans for Sunday after traveling all the way to Perth to watch Day 3's action with his father, Bruce, a Sydney-based first-grade cricketer.

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On Day 2, the two entered the pub just minutes from the Optus Stadium when England had nine wickets in hand after the lunch session. As the afternoon wore on, they watched England fall like ninepins, and Head's scorching blow melted the target that England had set.

“I’ll be heading back to Germany without a ball of Test cricket being seen. We probably spent our refund at the pub last night. We did watch the win, so that was calculated into the number of beers we were buying last night as Heady was batting. To watch Australia win at an Irish pub about five minutes from Optus Stadium, being Sydney boys, was weird. We could see the stadium from the window of the pub,” Alex said, speaking to The Sydney Morning Herald.

“It didn’t feel like we were watching Test cricket. It was two days of mayhem. It’s a good story to tell.” Happy for Australia, but disappointed as cricket supporters. It’s extraordinary that a test can finish in two days. It really took us by surprise. We thought we were safe with day three tickets.

We were just watching it happen in front of our eyes. Even with Australia chasing 205, we still thought there might be 100 to get on day three. You’re happy it’s happening as an Aussie, but we thought, ‘Jeez, slow down.’ “The game has changed a bit. I’m a traditionalist. We’ll probably aim for day two from here,” he added.

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