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Tag: Usman Khawaja

Breaking News: Harris out, Khawaja In as Opener

Posted on by cbtfhome

The returning Usman Khawaja performed splendidly in Sydney as he battered the English bowling attack with a century in each innings to get Australia to an enormous total each time.

The Australian side backed him up with a great performance, however failed to get their fourth straight win in a row in this series as England managed to claw their way to a draw. Now, with the last test almost here, the teams are heading to Hobart as they prepare for a day night pink ball test to end this series. 

Australia have announced their squads for the last match with only one major change. Marcus Harris has been dropped to retain Usman Khawaja as an opener. This means alongside Warner, Khawaja will open the batting with Head dropping down to the middle order probably.

“I think he knew was it was coming,” Cummins said on Thursday. “The message to Harry is we think he is going really well. It’s really tough on him. It’s not too often someone comes in and hits two hundreds in the same game. But I thought Marcus has been really good I think he’s been growing with each game he was a huge part in how we won that MCG Test with a crucial innings.”

“So he’s certainly part of the future. We’ll keep investing in him. I think he’s been going really well.”

“No, absolutely not,” Cummins said. “I think Uzzy and Davey have really earned that spot to open the batting but the reality is they’re both 35 years old. So whilst that doesn’t mean anything in the short, short term there will be a day where we need to find some other openers. Marcus is still absolutely got a huge future with us. He’ll be around the squad. I think there might even be an Australia A tour go overseas in the off-season. Of course, there’s heaps of Shield cricket and county cricket as well so for sure this is probably more a case of someone demanding a spot as opposed to Marcus losing his spot.”

Stokes and Bairstow Likely to Miss Hobart Test

Posted on by cbtfhome

Ben Stokes and Johnny Bairstow, the English batsmen, suffered separate injuries during the fourth test match with Bairstow getting the ball hit straight on his thumb during batting and Stokes having issues in his sides.

The two red headed strongmen battled their respective injuries and saw the match to the end to get England a draw. However, their injuries will now be assessed as they look to make their way to Hobart for the fifth and final match of this absurd Ashes series in Australia.

Australia, who has dominated the series winning the first 3 matches to get the Ashes series and then almost winning the fourth match, have shown the quality of their players ranging from fixed players like Warner and Smith to returns like the centurion Usman Khawaja.

With Jos Butler also out with a broken thumb already and back in England, the team has limited choices left to replace the two integral parts of the team. 

“We’ve got to just see where they’re at, see what their bodies can handle and then assess from there,” Root said in Hobart on Wednesday.”

“I think they need to make sure they feel like they’re physically in a place where they can get through five days of hard cricket, whatever Australia throw at them, and they’re in a position where they can go out and play and firstly, get through the game, but also, most importantly put in a performance as they managed to last week as well. It’s alright being fit to play but you’ve got to be fit to perform and I think that’s what we’ve got to work out.”

“All you can do when you’re on the fringes, is work as hard as you can, and make sure you feel as ready as you can,” he said. “One thing about this tour and all tours really in these bubble environments, this Covid-19 world that we are currently living in, is there’s not always opportunities to go out and play and to have game time.”

“But as players, you’ve just got to manage that as best as you can. You’ve got to feel like you’re readying yourself, you’re putting yourself in those situations in practice as best as possible. So when you do get out there, you know, you’re as mentally ready as you possibly can be.”