‘Very famous’ American-based Aussie golf champion Marc Leishman spotted celebrating Travis Head’s century

Travis Head brought up his fifth Test century on Thursday night, pairing with current world No.1 Test batter Marnus Labuschagne to power Australia into a dominant position at 3-330 at stumps on day one against the West Indies.

Playing in front of his family and friends at the Adelaide Oval, the homegrown talent atoned for his heart-breaking 99 at Perth last week, blasting a century and kicking on to 114 not out from just 139 balls alongside Labuschagne, who brought up his third consecutive Test hundred, finishing on 120 from 235 balls.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Champion Aussie golfer spotted in the crowd as Travis Head brings up a ton.

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Head hit a typically classy off-drive to bring up three figures on home soil for the first time before taking his helmet off to acknowledge the entire crowd.

“That’s it; Travis Head, the boyhood dream of making a century on his home ground in a Test match, and there it is,” Channel 7 commentator James Brayshaw said of the moment.

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As Head took a moment to soak it all in, it became apparent that friends and family weren’t the only ones in the crowd cheering him on.

Cameras picked up on Aussie PGA Tour golfer, Marc Leishman, with a beer in hand, sitting in the crowd alongside fellow pro golfer, Jediah Morgan, and Leishman’s dad.

Brayshaw and Ricky Ponting both picked up on it.

Marc Leishman was spotted in the crowd when Travis Head brought up his ton. Credit: Channel 7

“There are a couple of very famous Australia golfers there,” Ponting said as replays showed Head celebrating his ton in the foreground, and the crowd going nuts in the background.

“Marc Leishman in the flannelette shirt, and the young Queenslander, Jediah Morgan beside him. Both pretty happy with themselves at the moment, I reckon.”

“He almost falls into the category of a cricket tragic,” Brayshaw said of Leishman.

Ponting then recalled a story of Leishman that confirmed he is not “almost” a cricket tragic – he is one.

“Anyone that lives in the US and has made their own turf wicket in the front lawn is a cricket tragic,” Ponting said.

“He told me before, he was out the back one day, doing some stuff on the irrigation, dug down about a foot in his front yard and found that there was a clay base.

“The first thing that goes through his head is: ‘I reckon I can make a turf pitch out of that’. So he actually did! He showed me a video of it today, bouncing a ball (on the home-made pitch).

“The other thing he did – this is also the cricket tragic coming out in him – he actually wanted to see what the difference was between a red ball and a pink ball, so he went to Sportspower and bought himself his own pink ball.”

Marc Leishman in the crowd watching Travis Head dominate on day one. Credit: Channel 7

Leishman, a multiple winner on the PGA Tour hailing from Warnambool in south-west Victoria, is back in Australia at the moment for a pair of the country’s biggest tournaments, having just played the Australian Open, where he missed the cut, and the Australian PGA Championship, where he finished a tie for 12th.

Back on the field, Labuschagne set the foundations for the biggest year of Australian cricket this century ahead, continuing his sparkling start to the summer.

Head then followed him, bringing up his century 20 minutes before the close of play as the pair chalked up a 199-run fourth-wicket stand.

Combined, they have batted Australia into a dominant position to press for a 2-0 series victory, against a West Indies attack lacking consistency and fitness.

Such has been Labuschagne’s dominance, his 428-run tally for the series after scores of 204 and 104 not out in Perth is already the third highest by an Australian in a two-Test series.

Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head walk off after both making centuries. Credit: Mark Brake – CA/Cricket Australia via Getty Imag

And while he offered chances during his innings at Perth, there was no such shakiness against a hapless and injury-prone Windies in Adelaide.

The tourists’ plans to bump the right-hander and set the tone for Barbados-born English quick Jofra Archer in the Ashes fell flat, with Labuschagne looking completely at ease.

With less pace in the Adelaide wicket than in Perth, West Indies went short more rarely and when they did bounce Labuschagne he pulled the ball around the corner with ease.

The 28-year-old was also more patient, admitting he found it harder to pick up the pink ball and was less trusting of the bounce.

He and Head cover-drove the spinners to the boundary at will as the Windies tried to rush through the overs to get the second new ball under lights, while also picking gaps around the corner.

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The Queenslander cut well behind square, while his shot of the day was a glorious on-drive down the ground off Devon Thomas.

Head was also strong through the offside, playing with his customary power when the Windies offered too much width.

The South Australian is no certainty to tour India in February and March after tough stints in Asia this year, but his 99 in Perth followed by this innings will not hurt his cause.

Labuschagne, meanwhile, will be at the heart of Australia’s big 2023.

Officials well know that if he can keep his form into tours of India and England next year, Australia will go a long way to drought-breaking series wins in those countries.

His run now extends to four centuries in five innings, after also bringing up three figures against Sri Lanka in Galle last July.

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“Having that focus knowing there is a lot of cricket on, you want to make sure your game is in order,” Labuschagne said.

“Always thinking ahead. How are South Africa going to bowl to me? How are West Indies going to bowl to me?

“Taking some of those learnings I took out of Galle against Sri Lanka to India.”

Labuschagne and Head came together after Usman Khawaja fell victim to a tight lbw call to Thomas on 62 and Smith was caught-and-bowled for zero shortly after with the score at 3-131.

David Warner also came and went quickly for 21 after a day in the headlines, in a rare moment of joy for a West Indies side that lost debutant Marquino Mindley to a hamstring injury after four players were ruled out before the toss.

Khawaja’s knock made him just the third Australian in history to pass 1000 runs in a calendar year when aged 35 or older, joining Adam Voges in 2016 and Sir Donald Bradman in 1948.

– With AAP

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