Brisbane, Oct 22 (IANS): Australia's Test vice-captain Travis Head wants to score runs in white ball cricket in his bid to stake a claim for a Test spot again. Head was left out of the final Ashes Test earlier this year.

Australia retained the Ashes in the fourth Test in Manchester but Head was replaced by all-rounder Mitchell Marsh for the final Test at The Oval after poor returns with the bat.

In his first Sheffield Shield game of the 2019-20 season, Head, who captains South Australia, laboured to 51 off 184 balls in a drawn match against Victoria, before being dismissed for a 25-ball duck and 12 in the next game against Queensland, which his side lost by four wickets.

With The Marsh Cup coming up now, Head is looking at a switch to the white ball format, with his side South Australia set to take on Queensland in the domestic one-day competition.

"I think one-day cricket in the middle of summer is a good thing, sometimes it can give you a little bit of freedom," Head was quoted as saying by ICC.

"I can go out and hit the ball, I can go out and play with a bit of freedom. At the moment, I probably have not given myself the best opportunity, but I feel like runs aren't too far away."

Head added that although he hasn't made enough runs to press for a Test spot yet, he is hopeful of returning for the home series against Pakistan.

"I hope so, if I get enough runs," he said of a comeback. "Cricket can sometimes be a cruel game. Sometimes you can get a lot of runs and feel like you are not batting well, sometimes you can bat well and not get runs.

"I would love to be there (in the first Test against Pakistan), obviously, but I will keep doing what I am doing. If I spend a bit of time out in a one-day game and follow it up with a (good) Shield game, I can go back to playing really good cricket."

Australia begin their two-Test series against Pakistan on November 21 in Brisbane.