Online Reporter
Australia’s Usman Khawaja has declared himself fit for the third Ashes test against England next week, brushing aside speculation about his future and saying he will keep playing as long as he is valued by the team.
The left-handed batter, who will turn 39 during the Adelaide test which starts on Wednesday, missed the pink-ball encounter against England due to a back problem, and was also unable to open in either of the innings in Perth last month.
“I could have retired two years ago, or at any time,” Khawaja told reporters in Adelaide on Saturday. “I am always mindful of the future, I always have been. I am not here to hang on, I am just here to enjoy my cricket.
“As long as I am valued I am here, I am doing my job.” In Khawaja’s absence, Travis Head and Jake Weatherald have been in fine form at the top of the order. Head scored a match-winning 123 in Perth, while Weatherald contributed with a solid 72-run knock in the second test.
“I’ve got to be totally honest, it doesn’t really faze me,” Khawaja said on the chances of his return to the playing XI.
“The older I have got, the more comfortable I have got with things that I can control and things that I cannot. “And I feel really good. I am ready to go. “The rest of it is not in my control. So we will see what happens.” Australia lead the five-match series 2-0 and a win in Adelaide would secure the urn.Meanwhile, England need to alter their approach if they hope to claw their way back after their disastrous start to the Ashes series and avoid another drubbing, former Australia paceman Mitchell Johnson said.
England were beaten by eight wickets in both Perth and Brisbane, with Australia taking a 2-0 lead heading into the third test at the Adelaide Oval beginning on Wednesday.
The outlook appears grim for England, who last won the Ashes in 2015 and have suffered 5-0, 4-0 and 4-0 defeats in their last three series Down Under. But Johnson said there was still hope for the beleaguered visitors.
“Conditions may well be different in Adelaide next week, where you don’t generally see the same bounce and carry, which might suit England. We’ll see spin come into it more…,” Johnson wrote in a column in The Times.
“Australia are obviously in a very strong position but they won’t be complacent… This series doesn’t have the same feel as 2013-14, when Australia last won 5-0, but with (Pat) Cummins and (Nathan) Lyon coming back, their momentum is strong. “But if England get it right, it’s not like they can’t come back. Perhaps too much psychological damage has already been done. I don’t think it will be 5-0, but clearly the potential is there.”
Johnson, who took 313 test wickets in his career and was the bane of England’s batting line-up in their 2013-14 Ashes whitewash, said there were positives that captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum could take from their losses. —SuperSport
