Head, who fashioned 89 in the final innings of the first Test, admitted he had been processing the likelihood of defeat early in the game, after Jasprit Bumrah destroyed Australia’s batting on a febrile first evening.

“The writing was on the wall pretty quickly in that Test match that we were pushing uphill,” Head told reporters in Adelaide. “So for me, I was reflecting in-game on what I could have done better and by the time that result had come, 99 times out of 100 that result is going to come.

“So a pretty easy one as such to move on and get over it and start talking about what’s coming. It’s probably the closer losses that hit you by a bit of surprise that take you a few days. But with the way that Test match was playing out, we were pretty much outplayed for most of that Test.

“Pretty easy to realise what we did wrong. ... It’s not going to be massive changes, but hopefully with a bit of energy and knowing what’s on the line, we can crack on and play well.”

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Echoing the sentiments of Cummins after the game, Head pushed back strongly at any notion of a divide in the team, after number 11 batter Hazlewood’s comments on the penultimate night of the game were interpreted by Fox Cricket commentators as a sign of disharmony between the batting and bowling groups.

“That can be put to bed,” Head said. “I think that is the one thing with ‘body language’ and ‘divides’ and all the stuff that comes out when there is a loss. This team has been together three to four years and when we were winning it was not that much dissimilar.

“The guys get along really well, we hold high expectations of both sides, and it is a very individualised sport, so batters want to hold our own. We know how good our bowlers have been in the past, so we know if we can get runs on the board it puts us in a great position. Definitely no divide.”

Labuschagne was a vocal presence in the nets as he seeks the more proactive mode of batting that the team want from him at number three.

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“Knowing Marnus, he would have cracked in and worked on a few things,” Head said. “It would have been hard to keep him out of the nets, and no doubt over the next few days you will see him working hard again.

“He is a guy who has played well over a long period of time. He would like some more runs, but so would everyone.”

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