Travis Head says Spencer Johnson can impact like Mitchell Starc

Australian batting star Travis Head says rookie fast bowler Spencer Johnson can have the same impact as matchwinner Mitchell Starc as he prepares to play with a new-look T20 team in South Africa.

Head could be opening the batting with another rookie, Adelaide Strikers teammate Matt Short, in the opening match in Durban on Thursday morning, with several T20 incumbents, including David Warner, skipping the three-match series.

Short, Head and the big-hitting Tim David could also be called on to bowl spin after Glenn Maxwell was forced to return home with an ankle injury.

But it’s left-arm quick Johnson, who tore up the Big Bash last summer and recently produced the best-ever bowling figures in The Hundred in the UK, who Head is excited to see.

With Starc also rested from the series after a mammoth workload in the Ashes, Head said 27-year-old Johnson could replicate what the veteran had…