Michael Clarke has thrown his support behind Usman Khawaja, insisting the veteran opener must retain his place for the second Ashes Test despite the injury setback that opened the door for Travis Head’s remarkable stand-in century in Perth.
The former Australia skipper had said earlier in the year that the SCG against India should have been Khawaja’s farewell, but the former captain now believes selectors should stand by the under-fire opener.
“I still like Head at No.5 to be honest,” Clarke told Code Sports.
“I cannot see the selectors making a change for the second Test. I think they will keep the faith with Uzzie. He has been at the top of the order for a while.
“I think Khawaja stays at the top of the order and I do not think the Aussies are making any changes. They will stick with the same XI, assuming Cummins and Hazlewood are still not fit.”
Clarke watched Khawaja’s discomfort with particular interest given his own long battle with chronic back issues. The former skipper spent much of his career managing a condition that often left him unable to train and required hours of daily preparation simply to get through a Test match.
He was surprised to see Khawaja left off the field for so long in the first innings in Perth and believed the handling of the situation contributed to the opener being unable to start either innings.
Michael Clarke. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)
“I know what it is like to have a bad back. I was surprised he did not open in the first innings and I think they got that wrong leaving him off the field for too long,” Clarke said.
“But when he re-hurt his back going for that ball at slip, you could see he tweaked it again. If it is that bad, he made the right call not to walk out in the second dig.”
Head’s response was extraordinary. The South Australian volunteered to face the first ball of the innings, sparing debutant Jake Weatherald the pressure, and went on to crash one of the great Ashes tons.
“The courage and leadership to take the opener’s spot when Uzzie was injured was outstanding from Head,” Clarke said.
“To face the first ball and tell Weatherald he would take it showed real class. The way he played was phenomenal. It goes down as one of the best Ashes hundreds you will see and will be remembered forever.”
Clarke also emphasised the scale of Mitchell Starc’s influence across the match, describing his 10 wickets as a rare performance in conditions that offered little conventional swing.
He was far less complimentary about England’s batting.
“Their batting and shot selection in both innings was terrible,” said Clarke.
“In those conditions, how you score your runs at the start of your innings is so important. They will be disappointed they did not learn from their first innings and improve in the second.
“You cannot just play one way. When you are playing at the highest level you need to adapt to the conditions and the opposition. They probably could have been more disciplined against Starc and more positive against the other quicks. Boland was not at his best and they could have put more pressure on him.
“It will be tough for them to bounce back. They will be better for the run in Perth but I still like the Aussies in the second Test.”
The Roarhttps://https://ift.tt/NtjMTOI backs Khawaja to hold spot despite Head’s Ashes heroics
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