Cricket Australia staring at multimillion-dollar drain after Travis Head blitz ends first Ashes Test in two days: Report

The first Ashes Test might have been won by Australia but the cricket body is staring at a revenue loss. Here's the full story.

Cricket Australia are staring down a multimillion-dollar drain after the Ashes opener between England and Australia finished in two days at the Optus Stadium in Perth. Travis Head, who came out to open in the final innings in the absence of Usman Khawaja, played a whirlwind knock of 123 runs as Australia chased down the target of 205 runs inside 29 overs. The first Ashes Test was played on a pitch that offered considerable assistance to the pacers, making the batters' task tough.

England's Ben Stokes congratulates Australia's Travis Head as he walks off. (REUTERS)

The total of 205 was the highest for both teams across all the innings, and this was the first time that either team went past the 200-run mark in the Perth Test.

According to a report in the Guardian, Cricket Australia are looking at an estimated loss of more than AUD 3 million from ticket revenue for days three and four. It is worth mentioning that a record attendance of 101,514 was witnessed on the opening two days, with 51,531 on Friday and 49,983 on Saturday.

This attendance surpassed the record of 96,463 set in Perth last year, when India won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy opener against Australia in four days. Day 3 of the Test between Australia and England was sold out, and this fact also made Head apologise to the fans after he scored a quickfire ton, blowing the wind out of England's sails.

“Feel sorry for the people who can’t come tomorrow. I think it was a full house again,” he told the Seven Network after the match.

According to Cricket Australia's refund policy, individuals who hold single-day Test tickets for days that are eventually cancelled are entitled to full refunds.

Bazball shown the mirror

The first Test ended in two days as England known for their Bazball approach, batted less than 70 overs across both innings and this was the main fact behind the visitors going 0-1 down in the five-match series.

England, who had a lead of 40, began the second innings well but squandered the advantage by going from 65/1 to 88/6 in a matter of a few overs as Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland ran riot in Perth.

Starc finished with 10 wickets in the entire Test and this led to him being adjudged as Player of the Match. His performance became all the memorable considering he had to lead the attack in the absence of Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood.