Bridgetown, June 23 (IANS) After a setback in the World Test Championship (WTC) final against South Africa at Lord’s, Australia batter Travis Head said the team has extra motivation to do well in the upcoming three-match Test series against West Indies starting on Wednesday.

Australia lost to the Proteas by five wickets and failed to defend their WTC title earlier this month. With the start of the new WTC cycle, Head wants his teammates not to dwell on the loss to the Proteas when they take on the Caribbean side.

“There’s added motivation to go out there and play well. We didn’t play well (against South Africa) and it’s unfortunate. We put two years of hard work into one week and didn’t quite go to plan and the opposition played really well, so there’s another motivation,” Head said of the first Test in Barbados.

“We’ve got two more years to build, and this is another first look at it so I think if you dwell on it for too long or if you look back you forget about what’s moving forward.

“As hard as that is, we play so much cricket and are so used to that but of course we care and of course it’s not ideal but at the end of the day you can’t change it so you have to move on you have to get back on the horse and you have to play good cricket.

“I think a lot of guys are wanting to do that we’ve had a little bit of time to reflect and I’ve got time to prep and we’re going to another Test series that we’re hopeful to play well in,” he added.

Australia will be without star batter Steve Smith for the opening Test against the West Indies, as the experienced right-hander continues to recover from the finger injury he sustained while fielding during the WTC final loss.

Also absent is former world No.1 Test batter Marnus Labuschagne, who has been dropped from the side. In their place, teenager Sam Konstas and batter Josh Inglis have been named in the squad for the first Test at Kensington Oval.

Head expressed confidence that Labuschagne will soon make his way back into the Test side and backed Inglis to make the most of his opportunity in Smith’s absence.

Inglis, who struck a century on debut against Sri Lanka earlier this year, has Head’s full support, with the left-hander believing the 30-year-old can once again deliver a strong performance.

“It feels like he’s played a lot more than he has for Australia as he has been in the squad for a long time and he has been around the group for a long time,” Head noted.

“Once he gets his extended stay on the team I think he will excel. He’s been waiting for a good amount of time to get a crack and it’s exciting for Josh.”

–IANS

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