Brendon McCullum still believes in Zak Crawley despite his pair in the first Test against Australia, and has called on England bat with more conviction following their two-day defeat in Perth . The visiting head coach even cited Travis Head 's match-winning 123 as an example to follow.

Head made light work of what looked a more-than-competitive target of 205, driving Australia most of the way home to an eight-wicket win in just 28.2 overs. With Usman Khawaja yet again suffering from a back injury , Head replaced Marnus Labuschagne (who opened in the first innings) and proceeded to slap 20 boundaries, including four sixes that belied the size of the Optus Stadium boundaries.

As well as flaying an England attack that 24 hours earlier had put the frighteners up the home batters,

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