As he returns to Sheffield Shield cricket for South Australia following the early elimination, Travis Head acknowledges that Australia “weren’t good enough” at the T20 World Cup and says he has always been eager to return to red-ball cricket.

At least one of the next two Sheffield Shield rounds will be played by eight of the 16 players who travelled to the T20 World Cup: Head, Cameron Green, Josh Inglis, Matt Renshaw, Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Matt Kuhnemann, and World Cup reserve Sean Abbott. Round nine of the Sheffield Shield starts on Thursday.

On March 11, Tasmania will face New South Wales at Bellerive Oval in the One-Day Cup final, and white-ball experts Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, and Ben Dwarshuis are available to participate.

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But before moving on to the Pakistan Super League in late March, Steven Smith will not participate in the Sheffield Shield.

“Once we were out I was pretty keen to play this week,” Head told reporters in Adelaide on Tuesday. Head will play for South Australia against New South Wales in Adelaide starting on Thursday, but it will be his only match before leaving for the IPL to play for Sunrisers Hyderabad. As a result, he will miss round ten and potentially the final if South Australia qualifies. “Obviously, a T20 final was planned for a few days from now, so I suppose you follow the schedule, and I’m excited for the week.

“I will be available for this one, and I believe Cricket Australia will announce the following one, but I will not be present for the final. At this point, I have this game to attend before heading straight to the IPL. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m trying to strike a balance between taking care of my family and realising that this is a crucial moment for South Australia and that you should return to play because the World Cup is going so well.”

Head, Australia’s new Test opener after his incredible Ashes series, stated that he would rather open the batting for South Australia this week before his next Test match against Bangladesh in August, but he did not want to sabotage his team’s momentum as they aim for a Shield final.

“It’s hard on everyone for someone to come back,” Head explained. In a few months, in August, I would probably be doing it. I want to take advantage of as many opportunities as possible, so we’ll see. I told Rhino (SA coach Ryan Harris), “I have a preference for where I want to be, but I’m happy with whatever works for the team.”

In other news, Green will miss Western Australia’s match against Queensland at the Gabba, which also begins on Thursday. However, he will play the next game against New South Wales in Sydney on Saturday, March 14, before joining the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL. Additionally, because of his history of back issues, Green will only participate as a batter in the Shield game because he does not have his red-ball bowling loads at sufficient levels. After a challenging Ashes, Green will likely play in just one red-ball match before Australia’s next Test team is chosen for the two-match home series against Bangladesh, which begins in Darwin on August 13.

Inglis, on the other hand, will start the game against Queensland on Thursday but will not play against New South Wales because he won’t be going to the IPL until May, when he will play for the new Lucknow Super Giants for a shorter period of time. He is getting married in early April, therefore he won’t be able to watch the first half of the IPL. Similar to Green, Inglis will benefit from the red-ball opportunity. After Usman Khawaja retired, Inglis played two Ashes Test matches as a specialist batsman and was given a berth in Australia’s middle order against Bangladesh.

Due to his unprepared red-ball bowling load from playing only T20 cricket since mid-December, Bartlett will not be able to play for Queensland against Western Australia. However, as they aim for another final, he is anticipated to play in the final Shield match against Tasmania in Hobart. However, because to his IPL obligations with Punjab Kings, Bartlett will not be able to attend the final if Queensland advances, just as he was the previous year.

For the remainder of the season, Connolly, Renshaw, Kuhnemann, and Abbott are available. Western Australia is unable to make it to the Shield final, but Connolly will be playing for Punjab Kings in the IPL for the first time.

Head, Australia’s vice captain for Twenty20 Internationals and the captain of two World Cup games, praised the players’ and the team’s dedication to the format while offering no justifications for Australia’s defeat against Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka.

“We weren’t good enough, and that’s as simple as that,” Head explained.

“Clearly, this is a challenging campaign that is frustrating for certain individuals and challenging to participate in. “I think there are a lot of people that draw long bows when Australian cricket teams don’t win. We had a really, really good 18 months leading up to probably Pakistan, but for various reasons with the team and exiting Big Bash and whatnot, we weren’t able to get a bit of momentum.” There must be an explanation. People are looking for a rationale. Sometimes it’s a little more difficult to describe than that, and other times there is. We were inadequate. We know as a team that we’re totally dedicated, but everyone is free to make their own conclusions.”