Usman Khawaja's ongoing back injury has indirectly led to a famous Ashes century after Travis Head tore the heart out of England while batting as a makeshift opener.

Head cracked the equal sixth fastest century in Test history when he reached triple figures off just 69 balls in Australia's second innings on Saturday.

The 31-year-old was eventually out for 123 off 83 balls in front of 49,983 fans at Perth Stadium, with Australia needing just 13 more runs to reach the victory target of 205.

Australia got there a short time later, securing an eight-wicket victory inside two days and a 1-0 lead in the five-Test series.

Former Australia Test captain Ricky Ponting labelled Head's knock as one of the all-time great performances in Test history.

But Head's heroics wouldn't have come about if

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