Travis Head has accused Australia’s golden generation of being unfair in “putting a bullet through” current players, saying the game has changed significantly since they played.

Just a day after Matthew Hayden slammed selectors and accused them of promoting “the greatest pile of mediocrity” after calling up Nic Maddinson, Head took his own stand in South Africa.

Australia’s vice-captain refused to make reference to particular critics or comments, but took issue with commentary around the team’s batting at a time when averages have dropped worldwide.

Head also noted the current side had been through a “sticky situation” with the group of past players, in a clear nod to Justin Langer’s dramatic exit as coach in 2022.

“I think it’s unfairly judged a fair bit from a group of past players, pretty much, that put the bullet through a lot of players,” Head said ahead of Friday’s first Test against South Africa in Durban.

“But that’s what they’re paid to do. Some of them need a job, so they go after us and that’s totally fine. This group is strong enough to deal with those sort of things. That’s how it is.

“It’s unfortunate sometimes to have some of that feedback from a generation of players that we have huge respect for, but that’s the caper.”

The suggestion of a generational split between Australia’s two best eras of the past 50 years has long bubbled away, particularly since Langer’s exit after his side’s 2021-22 Ashes win, when he rejected a contract offer of only six months.

Australia have remained the No 1 team in the world for the vast majority of that period, winning a World Test Championship and keeping hold of the Ashes.

“They’re a very proud bunch of guys,” Head said. “We went through a bit of a sticky situation a few years ago where they stood up and were pretty proud about one of their own [Langer].

“But in saying that, we’re all one of each. We’re all each other. We play for the same cause. We have huge respect for it.

“It’s always a balancing act with the, I guess, what they say and how you take it.”

Test batting averages have dropped by close to 20 per cent from the end of the 2010s, while the Sheffield Shield has witnessed a similar downturn since the mid-2000s.

While critics have pointed to the drop in averages coinciding with the rise of T20 cricket, Head pointed to conditions as a major factor.

He used Darren Lehmann’s record Sheffield Shield runs tally as an example of the changes, with the top 10 in history all playing across the turn of the century.

In the time since, wickets have become harder to bat on and more drop-in pitches have been used, to the point where Cricket Australia have now asked curators to err more towards batters.

“It’s pretty obvious to see what the wickets were like back then to now,” Head said. “We have huge respect for what’s come before us, but it’s a completely different game.

“Sometimes it’s commented around unfairly on some of the wickets that teams have played on, whether that be Sheffield Shield, Test cricket.

“We’ve seen games go quicker than ever. We’ve got a lot of stats that suggest that the ball’s doing a lot more.”

Head also said he would continue to open the batting in South Africa, and indicated he was miffed by some of the commentary around whether he should stay there.