Khawaja critical of selectors
Usman Khawaja has questioned Australia’s selection policy abroad, saying he was denied the opportunity to develop his game overseas by being dumped for this year’s series in India and dropped in Bangladesh.
The left-handed cricket batsman is favoured to win back the No 3 spot and start the five-test Ashes series against England, having enjoyed two successful summers in a row with the bat at home.
He has only played one test since Sydney in January, having been left out of the BorderGavaskar series in India before also being axed from Australia’s one-day team for the Champions Trophy.
The 30-year-old was dropped for the second test in Bangladesh after two low scores in his recall as Australia were beaten in Dhaka.
As he attempts to guarantee a spot in the top order for the Gabba on November 23, Khawaja remains perplexed about the chopping and changing of the Australian side.
He believes such decisions have an impact on the team, which a fortnight ago was said by assistant coach David Saker to be playing ‘‘a little bit scared’’ during a limitedovers tour of India that included a 4-1 ODI series defeat.
‘‘They never used to do it before, I’m not really sure why they do it now,’’ Khawaja told Australia’s ABC Grandstand.
‘‘It creates a lot of instability in the team, I reckon, going in and out for everyone. You hear things like ‘the players are playing afraid’ or whatnot, but that’s what happens when you drop players all the time.
‘‘I know as captain of Queensland, I try and avoid that as much as possible; players I pick in the first game, I try to stick with them as long as possible, because they’ll always be the best players on the park. For some reason it seems like lately in Australia, the best players always seem to be the next guy in, which I don’t totally agree with.’’
Khawaja has played an Ashes test in Australia before – his debut match replacing an injured Ricky Ponting in Sydney at the close of a dismal series for Australia in 2010-11.
He hopes to play all five this summer and build on the five hundreds he has compiled since the start of the 2015-16 season.
‘‘[It is] very hard to develop your game and play some consistent cricket if you’re not getting consistent opportunities overseas, which I haven’t been getting,’’ Khawaja said.
‘‘It’s frustrating but I’ve just got to focus on what’s in front of me. I’d love to win an Ashes series – it’s something I haven’t been able to do yet.’’
Former test captain Steve Waugh said this week he could understand Khawaja’s position.
‘‘You’re always second guessing yourself. He’s probably thinking, ‘if I fail a couple of times, I’m on the chopping block’,’’ Waugh said.
‘‘The guy is a world-class batsman. He’s as good as anyone in Australia. He’ll score a million runs in the Ashes series, I’m sure.
‘‘And he knows he’s good enough to succeed overseas. Whether it’s his mindset that needs changing or the selectors, I’m not sure. But you’d like to think a player like Usman Khawaja could score runs anywhere in the world.’’
Despite his disgruntlement at his treatment overseas, Khawaja is adamant that Steve Smith’s team is well placed to regain the Ashes this summer.
‘‘I think the Australian team is pretty stable. I’m confident the selectors already know what their make-up of the team is going to be for the first test,’’ Khawaja said.