Blues smash Bulls to take one-day cup
QUEENSLAND were easily beaten in the Matador Cup one-day final in Sydney yesterday, but the most significant shots of the day may have been fired off the field.
The Bulls (186) were reeled in by NSW (4-188) with six wickets and 41 balls to spare at North Sydney Oval in a limp end to an impressive series.
But the big talking point was Bulls batsman Usman Khawaja claiming in a newspaper report that he and fellow Queenslander Joe Burns were made “scapegoats’’ for the Sri Lankan tour disaster.
Khawaja, dropped for the third Test in Sri Lanka after four failures, claimed the selection policy was “fickle’’.
Cricket Australia (CA) has decided to take no action against Khawaja for speaking his mind, but there is a widely held view in Australia’s playing ranks that only the bold and the foolish criticise selectors.
Indispensable choices might occasionally get away with it but for players like Khawaja, it is a risky business.
Even if they do not take offence, the selectors have been known to believe that if a player is pointing the dagger at them, they may not be fully committed to addressing their own shortcomings.
Khawaja, who top-scored for his side with 35 yesterday, is still likely to be recalled for the first Test of the summer against South Africa in Perth on Thursday week.
Even as Queensland despaired, there were encouraging signs for Australia with offspinner Nathan Lyon returning the superb figures of 4-10 from 10 overs.
Seamer Michael Neser kept Queensland in the hunt with three early wickets but Lyon’s work had created damage beyond repair.