Head's hunger to learn is just one of his assets '“ Gillespie

JASON GILLESPIE has revealed that Travis Head thought it was a wind-up when he asked the Australian batsman if he wanted to play for Yorkshire this season.
Yorkshires Alex Lees and Will Rhodes join in a game with Greenhill Primary School, Sheffield, last years winners of the Drax Cup. The 2016 renewal of the competition, the countrys biggest Under-9s cricket tournament, was launched at Headingley yesterday (Picture: Simon Hulme).Yorkshires Alex Lees and Will Rhodes join in a game with Greenhill Primary School, Sheffield, last years winners of the Drax Cup. The 2016 renewal of the competition, the countrys biggest Under-9s cricket tournament, was launched at Headingley yesterday (Picture: Simon Hulme).
Yorkshires Alex Lees and Will Rhodes join in a game with Greenhill Primary School, Sheffield, last years winners of the Drax Cup. The 2016 renewal of the competition, the countrys biggest Under-9s cricket tournament, was launched at Headingley yesterday (Picture: Simon Hulme).

Gillespie approached the 22-year-old when he played under him this winter at the Adelaide Strikers.

“Initially he couldn’t believe it when I asked if he was interested,” said Gillespie.

“He said, ‘Really? You’re kidding me’.

“I said, ‘No, we’d love to have you on board’.

“He sees this move as a dream come true.”

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Head will be Yorkshire’s overseas player for the second half of the summer.

The hard-hitting left-hander will arrive on July 18 to replace Kane Williamson when the New Zealander returns to international duty.

Head’s excitement at his move to Leeds is shared by Gillespie, who views him as the ideal overseas performer.

The Yorkshire first-team coach said he ticked all the right boxes, describing him as an aggressive batsman, a genuine off-spinner, and, significantly, as a young man who is eager to learn and who has plenty to prove.

“Travis is a great kid,” said Gillespie.

“He’s going to fit in so well here.

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“He’s an aggressive player who likes to put pressure back on the bowlers.

“He is also potentially a very good offie.

“Basically, he is a young lad who wants to prove himself, and that’s exactly what you want from an overseas.

“You don’t want an overseas who is just coming over for a bit of a pay cheque, and to go through the motions.

“This is a guy who is coming over to England to learn and to develop his game. I really like his hunger and desire.”

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Gillespie compared Head’s personal ambitions to those of fellow Australians Aaron Finch and Glenn Maxwell, who represented Yorkshire last summer.

The club’s latest recruit has also built his reputation in the one-day game, only to harbour high hopes, also, of a regular Test place.

“Aaron Finch and Glenn Maxwell were very keen to prove themselves in four-day cricket when they played for us,” said Gillespie.

“They were desperate to play for the Australian Test team, and Travis is exactly the same.

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“He’s got a burning desire to play Test cricket, which is fantastic for him and also for us.

“He’s had a taste of international cricket in T20, but now he wants more of it, and coming to a big club like Yorkshire is a great way for him to enhance his personal ambitions.”

Head, who made his full Australia debut in January, is not the sort of batsman who, as the saying goes, “dies wondering”.

He hit 299 runs last winter at a strike-rate of 154 to help Strikers to the Big Bash semi-finals, a total that included an extraordinary innings of 101 not out against Sydney Sixers, when he won the game by lashing the 51 needed off the last three overs.

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Head has only managed one first-class hundred so far in 41 appearances, but he has been tipped for big things from a young age and Gillespie insists that he can seamlessly adapt to all three formats.

He also compared him to the hard-hitting South African left-hander David Miller, who starred with the bat for Yorkshire when they enjoyed their most successful T20 campaign in 2012, reaching Finals Day and the Champions League under Gillespie.

“Travis strikes the ball really well and he reminds me, in the way that he hits the ball hard, of David Miller,” said Gillespie.

“Miller gives it a right old whack, and I remember throwing balls at him in practice and being quite scared, to be honest.

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“It’s the same with Travis, and although he’s had most of his success in his short career so far in one-day cricket, he will certainly bring a lot to our County Championship team as well.

“He’s definitely got the ability to adapt his game to the different formats.”

Head, who admitted that the chance to play in all forms of cricket was important to him when he signed for Yorkshire, is described as a mature individual with a good cricket brain.

He is the latest in a growing line of Australians to play for the White Rose county, including Gillespie, a line headed in no uncertain terms by the current Australia coach Darren Lehmann.

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In his long association with Yorkshire, Lehmann scored 8,871 first-class runs for Yorkshire at 68.76.

He is arguably the greatest overseas player in county cricket history.

“Travis is beyond excited,” said Gillespie. “He knows the history of this place and what it means to play for Yorkshire.

“Darren Lehmann is one of his idols, and he knows how much ‘Boof’ enjoyed it here and how successful he was over the years.

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“He is very excited about wearing the blue cap of Yorkshire.”

Jason Gillespie was speaking at Headingley yesterday at the launch of the 2016 Drax Cup, the biggest Under-9s cricket tournament in the country.