Australia coach provides telling Khawaja update ahead of SCG Test

Australia coach Andrew McDonald says Usman Khawaja will play in the final Ashes Test in Sydney but has stopped short of guaranteeing his future, saying the timing of his retirement may not be solely his decision.

A day out from the third Test in Adelaide, Khawaja’s career appeared in limbo when he was initially left out of Australia’s XI. But Steve Smith’s late withdrawal saw him parachuted back into the team. He has contributed scores of 82, 40, 29 and 0 across Adelaide and Melbourne in the middle order.

Usman Khawaja signs autographs on what should have been day three of the Boxing Day Test.Credit: Getty Images for Cricket Australia

Amid modest returns across the past two years - Khawaja has scored one Test century since the 2023 Ashes - speculation has mounted the 39-year-old could retire at the SCG in the city where he grew up.

While there has been no official announcement, McDonald said it would be up to Khawaja to let the team know of his intentions.

“With Usman, we have been really clear that we haven’t had the conversation,” McDonald said on Monday at the MCG ahead of an optional Australian training session.

“The speculation has been from the external. He’s with his family at the moment, having a couple of days off. We’ll build into Sydney, and we’re always having conversations about where players are at and speaking directly with the player.

“There’s no indication at my end that he’s calling it in Sydney, so that’ll be something that we’ll discuss, but his performance in this calendar year has been good enough to warrant selection.

“I’d say he’ll be there marking centre in Sydney.”

The complication is an eight-month gap until Australia’s next Test series against Bangladesh in August. If Khawaja does not retire next week, he may not receive a central contract early next year - a potential sign of whether he remains in Cricket Australia’s long-term plans.

Khawaja, who turned 39 this month, is the oldest specialist batsman to play Test cricket for Australia since Bob Simpson in 1977. He did not take part in the training session on Monday, like a number of other senior players. Jake Weatherald and Marnus Labuschagne were in the nets.

MCG curator Matt Page speaks with Australia coach Andrew McDonald on December 24.Credit: Getty Images

Asked if the decision would be entirely Khawaja’s, McDonald said: “It’s always a combination of conversations and where a team’s at. We’ve got a long time until that next Test series.

“I think he’ll come to us if he’s going to retire. There’s no doubt about that.

“If there was a series at the back-end of this, it would be a little bit different. But with the eight-month gap as a selection panel, we’ve got a lot of time to think about our next Test team should Uz push forward.”

McDonald also has thrown his support behind MCG curator Matt Page after an extraordinary two-day Test in Melbourne.

“I thought we would have got to day three or day four, but the cricket mixed in with the surface didn’t allow that, and we’ve got to take some accountability in the way that we play as well,” McDonald said. “It’s not wholly and solely the surface.

“It’s always a tricky balance. He does an outstanding job … and we have bad Test matches as well. We had a bad Test last summer [against India in Perth]. This Test, we weren’t at our best and sometimes these things can happen.

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“We support him in what he’s done and the evolution of the MCG.

“We’ve played on difficult pitches before, and we’ve been able to find a way through. In this game, we didn’t get the runs that we like. We had the game in a really good position with a 40-odd run lead at the halfway point.

“We set high expectations in the group, and we weren’t able to execute. We believe we’re a better batting group than that.”

Meanwhile, England seamer Gus Atkinson has been ruled out of the Sydney Test due to a hamstring injury he picked up on day two in Melbourne.

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