Australian captain Pat Cummins has confirmed that Travis Head could still feature in the 2nd Test against the West Indies at the Gabba despite being COVID-19 positive. Nevertheless, the 30-year-old also revealed that the left-handed batter has almost recovered from his illness and that he can still play under protocols.
Head, who struck a match-winning hundred in the opening Test against the West Indies in Adelaide, felt ill after the 10-wicket victory. The 30-year-old didn't travel to Brisbane with the rest of the squad as the management wanted to give him extra time to recover.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Cummins said, as quoted by cricket.com.au:
"I think he's almost out of it. He'll be fine … he'll train tonight. Obviously, even if he is still positive he can still play, there might just be a few protocols."
Pat Cummins backs Australia's top-order to make an impact in Brisbane:
Cummins further stated that he remains confident of Australia's top-order coming into the party and especially backed Steve Smith, who he feels was dismissed off a good delivery in the first innings in Adelaide.
"You see how hard they work in the nets and even the way they’ve gone about their innings, they look close to piling on a big 100 or 200 like we’ve seen them do in the past. Smithy’ particularly last week looked really sharp up the top and just got (dismissed by) a really good ball, so it feels like they’re poised to have a big impact."
Australia retained the Frank-Worrell Trophy in Adelaide with a 10-wicket win in Adelaide.
