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• Travis Head lays down Ashes marker with blistering century against India

  Travis Head put Australia in charge on day one of their World Test Championship final against India and laid down a marker for the forthcoming Ashes with an sizzling century at the Kia Oval.

  Head was the standout performer as the Baggy Greens racked up 327 for three, reeling off 146 not out from just 156 deliveries to put his side in charge of the International Cricket Council’s long-form showpiece.

  He arrived at the crease early in the afternoon session with Australia wobbling at 76 for three, India in the ascendancy after picking off David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne either side of lunch.

  But he played a gem of an innings, racing out of the blocks and flipping the game on its head as he reached three figures in just 106 deliveries – an innings of daring fluency that left the rest of the top order looking pedestrian by comparison.

  Steve Smith did his share of the heavy lifting, but his unbeaten 95 from 227 balls was an anchoring effort in support of Head’s agenda-setting knock.

  For Australia, nudging his side one step closer to becoming global champions is a main event in itself, but for watching England fans it was a reminder of just how dangerous the 29-year-old can be.

  Head was the breakout star of Australia’s 4-0 Ashes win in 2021/22, taking the Compton-Miller Medal for player of the series after scoring 357 runs at an average of nearly 60.

  If there were legitimate questions over whether he could touch similar heights in English conditions, where he averaged just 27 in 2019 and endured a lean spell with Sussex two summers ago, he appeared to answer them in emphatic fashion.

  Head finished the day with 22 fours and a six, an effortless uppercut off Mohammed Shami, and reached his first overseas hundred – and sixth overall – shortly after taking a glancing blow to the helmet.

  By stumps, India may have been harbouring a couple of distinct regrets, first about winning the toss and choosing to field and second over their omission of spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.

  The world’s number one bowler was left out in favour of an extra seam option in Shardul Thakur and, although there was no appreciable turn on offer from a first-day pitch, the decision to leave the 36-year-old and his 474 wickets on the sidelines looked misguided after 85 overs of toil.

  India started promisingly with the new ball, challenging Australia’s top order during a tough first hour.

  Shami kept Warner honest during a fine opening burst with the new ball, working over the left-hander from round the wicket in a way that will not have escaped the attention of his old nemesis Stuart Broad.

  Warner survived the examination, with a couple of fortuitous moments along the way, but Usman Khawaja banked a 10-ball duck when he nicked the quicker Mohammed Siraj to Srikar Bharat.

  There was an early scare for Labuschagne, who dramatically dropped the bat in pain when Umesh Yadav rapped him on the left thumb with a sharp, lifting delivery.

  England fans would be forgiven for having the Ashes on their minds as Labuschagne received treatment and popped a couple of painkillers, but he resumed his innings and even wore another blow to the hand.

  Warner, who has set his sights on a January retirement, began to warm up as he clubbed Umesh Yadav for four boundaries in a single over but he departed tamely before lunch when he gloved a leg-side ball from Thakur to the diving Bharat.

  An unconvincing stay from Labuschagne ended on 26 early in the afternoon when Shami forced a full delivery through a wayward drive and uprooted off stump. The majority Indian crowd roared their approval but their rising momentum dissipated in the face of Head’s counter-attack.

  He scored 28 off his first 20 balls, instantly putting India back on the defensive, and continued to dictate terms as the attack tired.

  With Smith grinding his way towards a gentler hundred at the other end, India will need a sharp change of fortune on day two.

• Moeen Ali’s return makes England stronger – Graeme Swann

  Graeme Swann believes Moeen Ali’s dramatic return to Test cricket as emergency cover for Jack Leach will strengthen England’s challenge for the Ashes.

  Moeen is poised to play his first red-ball cricket in almost two years after he was persuaded to replace first-choice spinner Leach, who has been ruled out of the series by a stress fracture to his spine.

  Moeen turns 36 during the first Test at Edgbaston and brings vast experience with 64 Test caps, 195 wickets and five centuries.

  Rather than view the upheaval caused to the bowling plans as a setback, Swann believes his successor as England’s front line spinner will improve Ben Stokes’ side through his greater threat with the bat.

  “Mo is a good bowler,” said Swann, who was speaking at the launch of Net Gains, a new joint campaign between IG and the ECB that will raise funds to build public cricket nets across the country.

  “I’m sure he’s just been given a licence to run up and bowl and spin it as hard as he can and bat the way he can.

  “I think it makes us stronger which is hard on Jack because he was doing a good job with the ball, but it extends the batting which is important. And with all their (Australia’s) lefties, we’ve got an off-spinner bowling at them.

  “I’m glad to see Mo back. He’s still brilliant. I watched him in the IPL – he’s mercurial, sure, but he’s still a brilliant talent.

  “The very fact that Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes are in charge makes it easy for him. They’ve said ‘you come in and all your positive attributes are what we’re after’.

  “Having his tyres pumped up by them and coming into a dressing room with guys he has grown up with who play in the same free spirited way will suit him down to the ground and that is why he’s come back.

  “Jack holds an end up and does a job. There are still areas I think he could be better and he does things differently to how I did, but he’s playing a role in a team. He’s a loss but you’ve got Mo who extends the batting.”

  Rookies Rehan Ahmed, Will Jacks and Jack Carson were potential replacements for Leach and, while Swann supports Moeen’s return, he admits it exposes the lack of depth in English spin bowling.

  “It is concerning because we haven’t got 10 candidates lining up and banging on the door,” said Swann, who played 60 Tests from 2008 to 2013.

  “It says what it says which is that we don’t have good enough spinners in the country ready to go.

  “We have spinners coming through – I’ve been with the Lions and there are some talented lads there who I don’t think personally are quite ready for Test cricket but they might be if they played because it is so much in the head.

  “It could ruin a career before it has even started so I think Mo is a safe and exciting option.”

  Swann insists England must not allow themselves to be bullied by Australia over the five Tests.

  “Australians are like dogs in a fight. They want you to be submissive, they always have done,” he said.

  “Teams who stand up to them and go toe-to-toe stand a much better chance of winning the fight against them.”

• Travis Head hits quickfire 60 to give Australia momentum in WTC against India

  Travis Head cracked a rapid-fire half-century as Australia built a solid foundation on the opening day of the World Test Championship final against India.

  Head arrived at the crease with his side at 76 for three and bossed an unbroken stand of 94 with Steve Smith, as Australia reached tea on 170 without further loss.

  Head was at his counter-punching best, reeling off 10 boundaries in 75 balls to push the pressure back on to the Indian attack.

  His lively knock altered the momentum of the afternoon session, which could have turned in India’s favour after Mohammed Shami uprooted Marnus Labuschagne’s off stump shortly after the lunch break.

  It was a second well-timed breakthrough, after David Warner’s battling 43 came to end in timid fashion late in the morning’s play, Shardul Thakur brushing his glove with a short ball speared down the leg side.

  India had chosen to field after winning the toss and it looked a sound decision during an awkward first hour for the Australian batters.

  Mohammed Shami kept Warner honest during a fine opening burst with the new ball, working over the left-hander from round the wicket in a way that will not have escaped the attention of his old nemesis Stuart Broad.

  He survived the examination, with a couple of fortuitous moments along the way, but Usman Khawaja banked a 10-ball duck when he nicked the quicker Mohammed Siraj to Srikar Bharat.

  There was an early scare for Labuschagne, who dramatically dropped the bat in pain when Umesh Yadav rapped him on the left thumb with a sharp, lifting delivery.

  England fans would be forgiven for having the Ashes on their minds as Labuschagne received treatment and popped a couple of painkillers, but he resumed his innings and even wore another blow to the hand to reach lunch on 26 not out.

  Warner, having survived his initial trial, began to open up and took a particular liking to Yadav, at one stage lashing the seamer for four boundaries in a single over.

  The 36-year-old, who recently announced his plans to retire in the new year, was growing in confidence and will have been annoyed at the manner of his dismissal, well caught by the diving Bharat after getting into a poor position against a modest ball from Thakur.

  Labuschagne, who had survived a couple of close lbw appeals, did not kick on in the afternoon – emphatically missing one that was tossed up full and thumped halfway up his off stump.

  Steve Smith settled in for a low-key stay, grinding out 33 off 102 balls, leaving the stage for Head (60no) to throw the bat confidently and swing the pendulum in Australia’s favour.