Khawaja avoids punishment for criticism of Perth pitch as Smith backs veteran opener

3 months ago 20

Australian batsman Usman Khawaja has avoided punishment for declaring the day one Optus Stadium pitch in Perth a “piece of shit”.

It comes as captain Steve Smith said he understood Khawaja’s public criticism of the pitch, but that he would not have described the wicket for the Ashes opener in the same way.

Cricket Australia issued Khawaja with a please explain last week after his remarks at a charity lunch about the Optus Stadium surface, and five days on, the governing body confirmed the 38-year-old had been spoken to by senior team management.

This masthead can reveal Khawaja will face no sanction.

“Usman’s comments were not reflective of how the team viewed the pitch and Perth Stadium personnel are aware of this,” a CA spokesperson said.

A day after CA released a statement praising the pitch and its “very good” rating from the International Cricket Council, Khawaja turned the blowtorch on a surface that produced 19 wickets on day one of a Test that finished inside two days.

Usman Khawaja stretches during an Australian training session.

“[There were] 19 wickets on the first day, about 20 people got hit – that’s a great wicket, that seems real fair?” Khawaja said at a lunch for his foundation.

“Day one wicket is a piece of shit, I’m happy to say that. They do get better day two, day three, but day four they start to crack up again. We know day two and day three is usually the best time to bat, that’s why whenever we play at Perth and we win the toss we bat first hoping that we can bat again maybe end of day two into day three.”

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Smith acknowledged the challenge of batting in Perth but said he would not have been as blunt as Khawaja.

“Probably not the words I would have used,” Smith said. “The first day was tricky for batting. It had good pace, bounce and quite a bit of seam movement – two good bowling attacks going at it.

“When that happens, sometimes it can be tough to bat. It’s sort of part and parcel of playing in Australia for the last few years. It has those moments where it is really hard to bat, and you got to try and find ways to get through.”

Khawaja has been ruled out of the second Test in Brisbane with a back injury that flared during the series opener. CA is adamant the three rounds of golf he played in the three days before the Perth Test did not contribute to the spasms that prevented him from opening the batting in both innings.

Khawaja trained as normal in the lead-up but reported a sore back on day one.

He is hopeful of featuring later in the series, but with Travis Head set to open at the Gabba, Khawaja may have played his final Test.

“He’s obviously not fit for this one, but he’s doing all the right things to try and get himself fit as quickly as possible,” Smith said. “We know with Uz he’s been a quality player over a long period of time. I think anyone that plays over 80 Tests is a good cricketer and has done exceptionally well.

“We’ll look at this game, see how it goes, and then I’m sure that’s a question for selectors moving forward.”

Asked if he thought Khawaja would play Test cricket again, Smith said: “I’m not sure. He’s been a quality player for a long time. I know he works exceptionally hard on his game. I played the Shield game out here a few weeks ago and he batted really nicely for the 90 that he scored.

“He’s had one hit where he was injured; didn’t do well with his injury.

“It’s not for me to answer whether I think that’s going to happen or not, but all I know he’s been very good for a long time.”