Stuart Broad's advice to England on how to stop Travis Head

England great Stuart Broad has revealed what his former side should do to try and keep Australia batter Travis Head quiet during the remainder of the Ashes series.

Head proved the difference between the sides during the opening Test in Perth as he smashed a match-winning century in the fourth innings that helped the Aussies open up a 1-0 series lead in the five-game ICC World Test Championship series.

The left-hander was promoted to open the batting alongside debutant Jake Weatherald as regular opener Usman Khawaja battled back spasms and the move paid dividends as he scored a superb 123 to guide the home side to victory.

All of England's fast bowlers were on Head's hitlist, but Broad believe the visitors' four-pronged pace attack - that included speedsters Jofra Archer and Mark Wood - were too impatient and has implored them to try different tactics when bowling to the hard-hitting batter throughout the remainder of the Ashes.

Broad, who sits fifth overall on the list for most wickets in Test history with 604 scalps, wants England's pacers to attempt to frustrate Head and try and get him to do something different to what he is accustomed to.

“What they could have done when Travis Head was really going, then you have to use your awareness to say, ‘Let’s get him off strike, let’s let him to face one ball an over and it’s a clip off his hip and he gets one and you don’t let him face four, five balls an over and he hits a boundary in those’”, Broad told Australian radio station SEN.

“And crucially, when you get him off strike, Marnus Labuschagne comes down to the facing end, you bowl dots at him and create pressure on him.

“Suddenly, you do that for forty minutes, and Travis Head gets bored of getting a single and tries something outrageous and might get out.

“That’s what England could have done a bit better. Yes, we like to see this aggressive play, and it’s always looking at the positive option.

“But sometimes, the positive option is to take the bite out of what’s going on just to try and make Travis Head do something different.

“You can’t just let him keep flaying it for hours on end and ends up with 120-odd off 80-odd balls.

“I think England could have done that a bit differently.”

Broad expects England to use the time off prior to the second test in Brisbane that commence on December 4 to formulate new plans for Australia's batters, with the pressure on skipper Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum to try and find a way to get the tourists back into the series.

“It’s the first time that I’ve seen Ben Stokes not have a tactical answer on the pitch,” Broad said of Head's impressive innings in Perth.

“And that means full credit to what he (Travis Head) was able to do.

“When I reflect on what England could have done, it came as a shock.

“They’ve designed their mindset to Travis Head coming in at No.5. He opens the batting because Usman Khawaja has a back spasm.

“So, the plan is already gone. You’ve now got a new ball. ‘Okay, what’s the plan to Travis Head with a brand new ball? We’ve not even discussed this leading into this series’, so you’re a little bit scrambled.”