Travis Head hits back at former Australia players for heavy criticism

Head's comments came after Australia legend Matthew Hayden slammed the national selectors after Nic Maddinson was called up to the squad for the Test series in South Africa having not played a first-class game in domestic cricket last season.

The 34-year Maddinson, who played the last of his three Test matches almost 10 years ago, missed most of least season after undergoing successful treatment for testicular cancer, but Hayden described the selection as "the greatest pile of mediocrity".

Head, the current Australia Test vice-captain, did not call out Hayden by name but said the previous generation might still be hung up after Justin Langer was sacked as Australia head coach.

Speaking to reporters ahead of Friday's first Test in Durban, Head said: "I think it's unfairly judged a fair bit from a group of past players, pretty much, that put the bullet through a lot of players.

"But that's what they're paid to do. Some of them need a job, so they go after us and that's totally fine.

"This group is strong enough to deal with those sort of things. That's how it is. It's unfortunate sometimes to have some of that feedback from a generation of players that we have huge respect for, but that's the caper.

"They're a very proud bunch of guys. We went through a bit of a sticky situation a few years ago where they stood up and were pretty proud about one of their own (Langer).

"But in saying that, we're all one of each. We're all each other. We play for the same cause. We have huge respect for it. It's always a balancing act with the, I guess, what they say and how you take it."

The left-handed batter insists pitches have changed in Australia, which has seen batting averages drop and the bowlers have come more to the fore.

Head gave a strong suggestion that he would stay at top of the order in Australia's Test team, despite criticism from some that he should move back to number 5.

"It's pretty obvious to see what the wickets were like back then to now," Head said. "We have huge respect for what's come before us, but it's a completely different game.

"Sometimes it's commented around unfairly on some of the wickets that teams have played on, whether that be Sheffield Shield, Test cricket.

"We've seen games go quicker than ever. We've got a lot of stats that suggest that the ball's doing a lot more."

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