“Travis Head batted like Ben Stokes”: Michael Vaughan applauds the southpaw for his batting on Day 3 of 3rd Ashes Test.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan commended Travis Head for his crucial innings of 77 and his partnership with Todd Murphy, which significantly boosted Australia’s lead to 250 runs on Day 3 of the third Ashes Test at Headingley. Following the interruption of play due to inclement weather, Australia resumed their innings at 166/4 and faced early setbacks. Chris Woakes claimed the wickets of Mitchell Marsh and Alex Carey, while Mark Wood, who had an impressive performance in the first innings, dismissed Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc. These dismissals left Australia struggling at 170/8.

Nonetheless, Head’s partnership of 41 runs with Murphy proved to be vital, enabling Australia to set a challenging target for England in the fourth innings. Speaking to Cricbuzz at the end of Day 3, Vaughan expressed his admiration for Head’s performance.

Vaughan said “Travis Head batted like Ben Stokes just for a brief spell. Todd Murphy came there and hung around, that was a key partnership.”

However, he also pondered whether England could have employed a strategy of pitching the ball up more, considering the prevailing overhead conditions and the movement off the pitch, saying “Was it worth for England to pitch the ball up to Travis Head? Because the ball was swinging around. But they’ve gone for this short ball theory because they think they can get him out and keep him quiet.”