How Travis Head won the respect of Barmy Army fans at Edgbaston in Ashes series first Test

Facing up to English supporter group the Barmy Army can be more daunting than padding up to the likes of Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson, but Aussie batter Travis Head has handled it with grace.

As the Aussie bowlers toiled to get England out in the first innings, the South Australian skipper was stationed on the boundary beside one of the wildest crowd bays in the world.

Head was tormented by the fans in the Eric Hollies Stand for the entire innings before England declared at 8/393.

When Australia was bowled out for 386 on day three, Head made a statement by sprinting onto the field before his teammates and taking up his position right in front of the rowdy English crowd members.

The Eric Hollies Stand faithful roared its approval, giving Head the loudest cheer of the day as he earned their respect.  

The Barmy Army roar at Travis Head after the Aussie batter made sure he was the first back onto the ground for the second innings of the first Test 

The Eric Hollies Stand is a prominent stand at the Edgbaston Cricket Ground in Birmingham, named after the former cricketer who played for Warwickshire and the England national team.

The Eric Hollies Stand is known for its lively and passionate atmosphere. It has gained a reputation for being one of the most vocal and enthusiastic stands in world cricket. 

‘Biggest cheer of the day? Travis Head has been getting pelted all day by the Hollies, but taken it like a true champ,’ England’s Barmy Army supporter group posted to Twitter.

‘Comes back out and runs back in position ahead of the whole team.’

Earlier in the match, the lively crowd had been peppering Head with chants including ‘Travis Travis you’re a [expletive]’.

But when Head enthusiastically returned to his position, those chants changed to ‘We’ve got our Travis back, We’ve got our Travis back’. 

Cricket fans loved the banter between the crowd and Aussie players.

‘I love the barmy army. Never change lads,’ one fan posted.

‘My new favourite player. Took the abuse like a champ,’ added another.

‘I was there and it was one of the many highlights of the day – a really good sport,’ posted another. 

Head was recently named Player of the Match in the ICC World Test Championship Final against India.

The middle-order batter notched scores of 163 and 18 in the one-off contest, surpassing the strong performances of his teammates Steve Smith and Alex Carey and playing a crucial role in Australia’s commanding 209-run victory.

Entering the crease when Australia found themselves in a challenging situation at 76/3 on the first day at The Oval, Head teamed up with Smith (121) to form a match-winning partnership of 285 runs.

Aussie cricketers have long-suffered the slings and arrows of the Eric Hollies Stand, including Mitchell Johnson in 2016

Head has been in sizzling form, with a ton in the World Test Championship final and a fighting 50 in the first Ashes Test

Head is pictured with his wife Jessica and daughter Milla after the World Test Championship final in London

Head said the result was a well-deserved reward for the relentless hard work put in by both himself and his teammates throughout the World Test Championship period.

‘It’s amazing. You come here for a week, you do the prep and it is hard to imagine, but a lot of hard work has gone into it over the two years,’ Head said post-match.

‘It has been my approach for the two years [to attack]. I said during the week that if balls were presented for me to score off I wanted to be proactive and score off them and when they bowled in nice areas to be good enough to stay out there for long periods of time.

‘I was tested throughout the whole innings I had a plan and knew what they were going to do and it was nice to be out there for a period and bat with Smudge [Smith]. It has been amazing week.’

Head managed a fighting 50 in Australia’s first innings in the opening Test of The Ashes to help put his country slightly in front at the end of three days of play.

Weather limited the action on day three, but in a brief moment of play Scott Boland and captain Pat Cummins were able to dislodge the England openers cheaply to set up a thrilling fourth day of play.