Travis Head rejects suggestions Aussies didn't care about T20 World Cup

[p]Head is one of six T20 World Cup squad members who will be playing the penultimate round of the Sheffield Shield alongside Western Australian pair [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/inglis-josh/fy2GJ5Iu/"]Josh Inglis[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/connolly-cooper/jPqaRayb/"]Cooper Connolly[/a] as well as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kuhnemann-matthew/0jKO4R9p/"]Matt Kuhnemann[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/renshaw-matt/2ZSJwHw6/"]Matt Renshaw[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/abbott-sean/xUxD4oV7/"]Sean Abbott[/a]. [/p][p]The Redbacks, sitting in third place and only one point behind [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/queensland/UuE4XLin/"]Queensland[/a] in second, host fifth-placed [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/new-south-wales/x61ZlzKe/"]New South Wales[/a] at Karen Rolton Oval on Thursday as part of their bid to retain their status as defending Shield champions. [/p][p]The 32-year-old won't be available for the final round later this month as he heads to India next week to prepare for the 2026 Indian Premier League with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/sunrisers-hyderabad/ltywUfPr/"]Sunrisers Hyderabad[/a], but said he was "pretty keen" to return to red ball cricket the moment [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/australia/OxG0JfXg/"]Australia[/a]'s elimination was confirmed. [/p][p]"[b]Once we were out, I was pretty keen to play this week,[/b]" Head stated.[/p][p]"There's meant to be a T20 final in a few days time, but I'll just play the schedule. No doubt that once we were out, I was going to come back and play.[/p][p]"[b]It's an exciting couple of weeks. We've seen what the boys were able to achieve last year and hopefully I can play my part in getting them back into a final.[/b]"[/p][embed guid="c85db509-2f9a-4e2f-87e8-23aa94a0b60e" url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmPR3Na1TJo" social-type="youtube" /][p]Australia, who have struggled with T20 cricket for much of its 20-year history, have made the semi-finals of only four of ten men's T20 World Cups, last doing so when they lifted the trophy in the UAE in 2021. [/p][p]The 2025 Allan Border Medallist said he was as surprised as anyone about Australia's early exit, assuring the playing squad went in "full of confidence" after "a really good 18 months" in T20 cricket prior to the World Cup.[/p][p]"[b]We carved this thing out for 18 months. We were exactly where we wanted to be,[/b]" he explained. [/p][p]"People had owned positions in the order and roles in the team.[/p][p]"[b]Normally we're pretty good at navigating our way through World Cups. [/b][/p][p]"It's challenging to get through that and you see good teams miss out all the time. Unfortunately we were on the wrong side where we weren't good enough at times to get ourselves into the Super 8s.[/p][p]"[b]Naturally in World Cups gone past, we've hit roadblocks and found our way past them. We've been able to problem solve on the go and found ourselves at the pointy end of the tournament, but this year wasn't to be.[/b]"[/p][embed guid="75e344db-49dc-47b8-a927-f01191bb0c73" url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AIQRb3u1kE" social-type="youtube" /][p]Head hit back at suggestions from Australian commentators and pundits that T20 cricket is not afforded the same respect as Tests or ODIs by the Australian side, assuring reporters that the players are "fully committed" to every ICC event and bilateral series regardless of its stature or the colour of the ball.[/p][p]"[b]As a player I want to win every World Cup and every trophy I compete for, so from a player perspective there's a 100% commitment to every format. There's no format that plays bigger than any other. We planned the best we can. I think it's more of a thing with the public that Test cricket is bigger than T20 cricket. [/b][/p][p]"T20 cricket is a bit more unpredictable which is why you see more of these kinds of results and why you see the same three or four teams competing for the World Test Championship.[/p][p]"[b]There are a lot of people who draw long bows when Australian cricket teams don't win. There needs to be a reason. People want a reason. Sometimes there is, and sometimes it's harder to explain than that. We weren't good enough, but we know as a team we were fully committed.[/b]"[/p]