Travis Head has revealed Australia is weighing up trying a radical ploy in Sri Lanka which would see the tourists shuffle their batting line-up mid-match, similarly to limited-overs sides cobbling their order together on the run.
It remains a mystery two days out from the first of two Tests if Australia will open the batting with incumbents Usman Khawaja and Sam Konstas, or take an alternate route such as opening with Head.
The left-hander succeeded as an opener alongside Khawaja on Australia's most recent Test visit to the subcontinent, peeling off 223 runs at an average of 55.75 from five innings on the 2023 tour of India after David Warner flew home with a fractured elbow.
In Galle on Monday, Head was quizzed on the uncertainty surrounding Australia's batting line-up for the Warne-Muralitharan Trophy opener, prompting him to float a potential departure from tradition.
"We've got Josh Inglis and Alex Carey who both play on different planes really well. They both reverse and they both sweep really well," Head told reporters.
"It's been a topic of conversation for the last little bit in this team … First innings, second innings, why doesn't the order change? Why can't we be flexible? Where can we win a Test match? What moves [can we make]? How can we be brave?
"That hasn't played out as such yet. Is this the tour to do it? We'll wait and see.
"This group is experienced enough and got some really good players that can play different roles. In different situations of the game we may draw on different people."
Travis Head speaks to media in Galle. Getty
Head said members of Australia's 16-man squad were "open" to being flexible with batting positions mid-match, before recalling Konstas' unorthodox Boxing Day knock of 60 from 65 balls as he pointed out that "the game's evolving".
"Why not continue to see where we can make jumps and leads and … get an advantage?" Head said.
"And if that's using people in different positions — it's not traditionally done a hell of a lot [and] we haven't done it yet, but does this tour lend itself to that? … [We will] wait and see."
Head has spent the majority of his Test career batting at No.5, where he's often punished bowling attacks with high-tempo batting against balls that have lost their shine and hardness.
But the South Australian struggled at No.5 on Australia's Test tour of Sri Lanka in 2022, mustering just 23 runs at 7.66 from three innings in a drawn series.
Nathan Lyon (left Australian player) and Steve Smith (right Australian player) inspecting the Galle wicket. Getty
He said he wasn't fussed with where he batted in the looming series in Sri Lanka.
"I feel comfortable wherever I'm needed to win a Test. I ain't bothered where I bat anymore, [and] I haven't been for a while," Head said.
"All I'm worried about is where Ron [coach Andrew McDonald] and now Steven [Smith, the fill-in captain] want me and where I can do a job."
Australia is aiming to win its first Test series in Sri Lanka since Michael Clarke skippered his side to a 1-0 victory in 2011.
Smith will captain the team in the absence of Pat Cummins, who remained in Australia for the birth of his second child.
