"I can't quite work out what transpired over the past couple of hours" - Travis Head on first Ashes ton

Travis Head was under the scanner when he was named in the Australian starting XI for the first Ashes Test. But at the end of play on Day 2, the southpaw can breathe a lot easier.

There was a lot of noise in favor of Queensland's Usman Khawaja, who has been in breathtaking form in Sheffield Shield. However, the selectors believed Head has a lot to contribute to Aussie cricket.

Head repaid the trust with a cracking century which came off just 85 deliveries and put Australia on the ascendency in the Test match. The hundred will always be special to Head, who revealed the feeling is yet to sink in. Addressing a press conference at the end of the day's play, Travis Head said:

"I'm still pinching myself -- I can't quite work out what transpired over the past couple of hours. It's an amazing feeling to get a Test hundred. Think I said to Starcy [Mitchell Starc] as it happened, I couldn't believe what was going on. I rode my luck in parts but was able to put Australia in a great position and very privileged to be able to do that."

Head was quite fluent in his knock apart from the nasty blow he copped off Mark Wood's beamer. The 27-year-old batsman from South Australia smacked 12 boundaries and two sixes to reach his third Test century and first Ashes hundred.

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"I found the first 20 runs really, really tough" - Travis Head

Head arrived in the middle after the dismissal of Steve Smith and by the time the last recognised batsman (Alex Carey) got out, he was at 29. He reached his fifty with a juicy drive before racing onto the next half-century in just 34 balls.

Head admitted that he was shaky at the beginning but grabbed the scoring opportunities on offer to score his hundred.

"I got opportunities to score and I was able to take them today and put pressure back on bowlers," he said.

"I took some chances along the way especially into the new ball but with my technique and mentally I feel really composed. To be able to be in that moment is a great feeling. I found the first 20 runs really, really tough. The game opened up and I was able to take opportunity… I put myself in that position which was pleasing," Head concluded.

Riding on his unbeaten 115-run knock, the hosts racked up a 196-run lead at the end of play on Day 2.