There is rising tension between experienced Test cricketer Usman Khawaja and Queensland Cricket as they approach the Sheffield Shield final next week. Despite this, he is expected to be included in the preliminary squad for the final on Friday. A final decision on his participation will be made closer to the match, which starts next Wednesday.
The disagreement between Khawaja, aged 38, and Queensland Cricket stems from his absence from the last Sheffield Shield match of the season against South Australia. In this game, Queensland secured a draw, ensuring their place in the final against the same opponent at Karen Rolton Oval.
While the Queensland team played in Adelaide, Khawaja spent five days at the Australian Formula One Grand Prix in Melbourne. However, he stated on social media that he was recovering from a minor hamstring injury. This injury, he claimed, occurred during his previous match-winning performance against the Bulls, where he scored 127 and remained 33 not out against Tasmania. There are also suggestions of an ankle issue that arose during the Sri Lanka tour, although it didn’t prevent him from playing against Tasmania.
Queensland Cricket’s General Manager, Joe Dawes, expressed his disappointment on Wednesday, implying that Khawaja was not actually injured. He stated that Queensland’s medical team had confirmed Khawaja was fit to play.
“My understanding from Cricket Australia staff is the same. There were no hamstring concerns as far as we knew,” Dawes told reporters at Brisbane Airport.
“Based on our medical staff’s assessment, there was no reason he couldn’t have played the last game. It’s disappointing that he missed an opportunity to play for Queensland. My team here is eager to play. We are disappointed he didn’t play against South Australia. It was his decision, and he has publicly given his reasons. We hope he will decide to make himself available for next week, and we will make a decision on Friday.”
Khawaja was not the only Cricket Australia contracted player absent from the final round. Nathan Lyon also attended the Formula One Grand Prix with Khawaja and has been managing a hip issue since returning from Sri Lanka. Steven Smith also missed the final round for New South Wales after returning from the Champions Trophy. In contrast, Marnus Labuschagne and Alex Carey played for Queensland and South Australia, respectively.
Additionally, all CA and state-contracted players heading to the IPL were absent from the final Shield round as they were granted No-Objection Certificates to join their IPL teams before the tournament started on Saturday.
Khawaja has played 11 first-class matches this summer, including seven Tests, exceeding the number of games typically played by a domestic red-ball specialist in a Shield season. The 38-year-old has been carefully managing his schedule in recent years, prioritizing rest to maintain his mental and physical freshness for Test matches and extend his career.
This management plan has been supported by Cricket Australia. He skipped one of Queensland’s initial four Shield games to prepare for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and another Shield game against Western Australia shortly after the Sri Lanka tour, where he achieved a career-best score of 232 not out in the first Test.
Looking ahead, Khawaja is expected to have April and May off after the Shield final concludes on March 30, before preparing for four Tests in June and July, including the WTC final and a three-Test tour of the Caribbean. His next international commitments after that will be the Ashes series starting in late November.
