Travis Head’s century that demolished England in Perth last week will sit comfortably in the front row of epic Ashes hundreds by Australians. If the century that led to Australia’s eight-wicket win in the series-opener was an unbelievable effort, the backstory of it is nothing short of fascinating as well. Regular opener Usman Khawaja’s back spasm opened up a vacancy at the top and Head, by all accounts, volunteered to fill in. According to teammate Nathan Lyon, Head said before walking out to bat with newbie Jake Weatherald: “It can’t be that hard…might as well go get ’em.” Get them, he did and Head wrote himself into Ashes glory.

Certain things spoken in the dressing room before undertaking a particular task or facing a tricky situation can go down in cricket folklore to become as famous as the result.