Usman Khawaja’s legacy will be of a very good Australian Test cricketer but more importantly, a trailblazer.
He has done so much for the sport in this country as a role model and educator for his teammates and the wider public.
Times have changed in a major way in the 15 years since his first Test at the SCG against England and his last one which gets underway on Sunday at the same venue after he announced on Friday that he was retiring from all international cricket.
He’s helped widen the pathway for young cricketers of not only South Asian descent, but all nationalities and people of colour, to make it on the Australian cricket scene, which has traditionally been very male and even more pale.
Khawaja will finish with an impressive resume irrespective of how his 88th Test plays out and while he may not quite be in the upper echelon of Australia’s all-time greats, his career will be one of the most important and impactful of the 21st century.
“I’ve always felt a little bit different, even now,” Khawaja said at his nearly hour-long media conference.
“I’m a coloured cricketer. The Australian cricket team is, in my opinion, our best team. It’s our pride and joy.
“But I’ve also felt very different in a lot of respects, different by the way I’ve been treated, different for how things have happened.”
The 39-year-old batter used his at times emotional and occasionally cringeworthy media conference to call out the media and former players for what he considered a personal attack on his character in recent times.
Khawaja, after thanking his family, teammates and mentors, did not hold back as he told the room full of media members exactly what he thought about the way he had been portrayed and then tried to lighten the mood with a few wisecracks which went down like a lead balloon in the awkward atmosphere that had been generated.
He was particularly incensed over the coverage after he was found to have been playing golf the day before the first Test of the Ashes series.
When he could barely field at first slip, had to go off to receive treatment and then triggered chaos when the top order had to be reshuffled because he did not make it back on the field in time, Khawaja was blamed for contributing to Australia’s collapse on day one of the Perth Test.
“I had back spasms, and that’s something I couldn’t control,” he said.
“But the way the media and the past players came out and attacked me, I could have copped it for two days, but I copped it for about five days straight. And it wasn’t even about my performances.”
Khawaja conceded that it looked like he was “playing the race card” but he was clearly concerned about what he thought was a case of double standards.
His point was based around when injuries strike Anglo teammates like Nathan Lyon and Josh Hazlewood that it is considered bad luck for them but when it was him, it was due to laziness in his preparation, perpetuating a stereotype.
He referred to criticism last summer when he was criticised for missing Sheffield Shield duty for Queensland to attend the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Melbourne even when he pointed out that some of his Test teammates were also doing the same.
Nobody batted an eyelid when the likes of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Hazlewood and Travis Head put their feet up instead of turning out for their BBL or state sides because they are three-format international players and particularly the bowlers, they need the break as much for the physical rest as the mental freshen-up.
“The way everyone came at me about my preparation, it was quite personal in terms of things like he’s not committed to the team, he was only worried about himself, he played this golf comp the day before, he’s selfish, he doesn’t train hard enough, he didn’t train with them the day before the game, he’s lazy,” he said.
“These are the same stereotypes, the racial stereotypes I’ve grown up with my whole life.
“I just thought that the media and the old players and everyone else had moved past it, but we obviously haven’t fully moved past it, because I’ve never seen anyone being treated like that in the Australian cricket team before.”
Both these examples were apples versus oranges comparisons.
The critiques of Khawaja after the golfing controversy were based around whether a player who is soon to be 39 and is only just hanging onto their spot in the team should be opting for the links ahead of an optional training session.
If it had been his good mate David Warner a couple of summers previously when he was in a similar situation and age bracket while fighting to retain his spot, the “attacks”, as Khawaja described them, would have been of the same magnitude.
Khawaja has for several years been a one-format player among the national squads and with his form tailing off dramatically in the past two years, skipping Shield matches is not a good look when time in the middle is clearly needed.
Usman Khawaja walks off after he is caught behind in Melbourne. (AP Photo/Hamish Blair)
That’s not to say that Khawaja’s concerns should be dismissed.
His suspicion is that because he has spoken out in support of causes like the Palestinian community in recent times, that he has been targeted. And, sadly, in some sections of the media, that has contributed to negative coverage against him.
As he referenced in his media conference, he wants it to be easier for “the next Usman Khawaja” to feel accepted in the team dressing room and by the general public.
If he feels he has been treated unfairly, Cricket Australia needs to harness his knowledge and experience to be a mentor to the next generation.
It was ridiculous two summers ago when Khawaja was not allowed to display a dove of peace on his bat to raise awareness of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza because the ICC bans players promoting symbols “political, religious or racial” causes.
However, Marnus Labuschagne was allowed to have an eagle in reference to a bible verse on his bat and the ICC has accepted many millions from companies intent on sportswashing their way to positive publicity.
Khawaja was asked what he would like to do after he hangs up the batting gloves and while he did not have a specific plan, he emphasised that he wanted to give back to the game he loves.
He would be the ideal person to speak to young elite and community cricketers about the issues he has faced and how best to navigate them, whether in a high-performance environment or down the local park with your club team.
With regards to the matter of his final Test, Khawaja said his career was finishing neatly given that he had played 44 matches before he was dropped in the 2019 Ashes and would now finish with the same number in the final chapter of his time in the side since his barnstorming return four years ago.
He inadvertently threw Andrew McDonald under the bus by saying he had spoken with the coach at last week’s MCG Test about Sydney being his swansong.
McDonald subsequently told the media on Monday that he had not had any conversations with Khawaja about his retirement plans.
Andrew McDonald. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira, File)
More concerning is the fact that Khawaja said McDonald “Even right until the very end” had told him that “ he was still thinking about how I could get to India”.
That tour is another 12 months away when Khawaja would be 40.
On top of that, Khawaja has failed to make it to 50 in 16 of his past 18 innings, so it is worrying that the national coach thinks that is the kind of form which warrants another year in an ageing team which is in desperate need of regeneration.
Whether he signs off with a big score or not, Khawaja can leave the SCG with his head held high after a stellar career in which he has repeatedly bounced back from adversity to show that strength of character is the most important component of an international cricketer.
Paul Suttorhttps://https://ift.tt/XKtQmYy right to call out inequality but professional cricketers are not immune from criticism when standards slip
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