Travis Head has warned rivals that he feels comfortable dealing with a bumper barrage on Australian pitches, with the extra pace no concern for the flourishing left-hander.
Head thumped his seventh career Test century against West Indies in Adelaide on Thursday, with his 119 setting up an almost certain victory for Australia.
Head's flamboyant approach has brought with it several theories on how to dismiss him since his successful return to Test cricket in 2021.
England went short during last year's Ashes to middling success, only slightly slowing down the South Australian scoring while Head still averaged 36.2.
Pakistan went wider and stacked gully-point region earlier this summer, bringing Head's average for the series down to 16.2.
On Thursday West Indies went back to short-pitched stuff, setting men back and trying to bounce out the 30-year-old.
"(It was my) first look at it in Australia where the ball is more consistent. It bounces a bit quicker," Head said.
"I felt I made really good decisions around that. Swayed out of the way of a few, played a few.
"I feel like it got me in the innings a little bit. Got me going a little bit. I've been pretty keen and pretty eager to get into the game."
Head would not buy into the discussion of whether he has a weakness against the short ball, but said he felt comfortable facing it on Thursday.
"I played the short ball a lot better today than I did everything on the front foot," Head said.
"I felt like in England I had the front foot under control and not so much was in control (against the short ball).
"I feel really good at the moment picking length up. Where in England I felt like I was off the mark with picking the length up.
"You just move in and out of tempos, the way you bat."
Head said he was growing accustomed to dealing with the varied approaches to him, given teams are coming armed with such deliberate plans.
"Pakistan went wide, which is what I have challenged in the past about whether or not I can withhold myself and be disciplined around that," Head said.
"A few times I was. A few times I wasn't.
"It's no different than one on the stumps with a packed legside field.
"It's 'can I be disciplined to not hit one head-high to mid-wicket?'. Same as the short ball - 'can I be disciplined enough to do it in different moments?'
"That's the game isn't it, with any plan that they've got."
