BGT 2024-25: Cummins confirms Head will play Boxing Day Test

Melbourne: Travis Head was declared fit on the Christmas day after the batter aced the final fitness session at the MCG here on Wednesday.

Head's fitness has been a subject of some intrigue after Cricket Australia first denied any injury to southpaw, who appeared to be in discomfort while batting in the second innings in Brisbane, only for skipper Pat Cummins to confirm a tight quadriceps.

Given that Head has been Australia's backbone, his fitness had been a subject of much debate in the build up to the Boxing Day Test.

"Yeah, Trav's good to go, so he'll play," skipper Pat Cummins confirmed during his match-eve media conference. "Yeah, (he) just ticked off some final things today and yesterday. But yeah, no stress, no kind of worries about injury with Trav. So he'll go into the game fully fit. I don't think you'll see too much management of him throughout the game. He just kind of plays as is, but maybe around fielding if he's a bit uncomfortable, we will. But he's, yeah, fully fit."

Australia will hand debut to 19-year-old Sam Konstas after Nathan McSweeney failed to grab his chances. Cummins, who made his debut when 18, had a funny take when asked as to what advice he would offer the fellow New South Wales' cricketer.

"I said this to Sam the other day; I remember as an 18-year-old I was thinking I've got a lot more leeway because I was young," Cummins began. "I almost felt like if I didn't have a great game it wasn't my fault it was the selectors' fault for picking me. It was like, they're the idiots who picked an 18-year-old. You are so young starting out your career, it's Boxing Day, it doesn't get any better than this so just enjoy the moment."

When asked as to what it was like for him, debuting for Australia as a teen, Cummins had this to say: "I spent a bit of time wondering why or how I was there, how it had happened so quickly. I just remember being really excited and it's similar to Sammy this week. There's a level of naivety that you just want to go out and play like you do when you are a kid in the backyard - take the game on, have fun, and not overthink it.

"That's the message to Sam. That's definitely how I felt as an 18-year-old, just really excited, and once the game started you go into game mode and it's just like any other game."