Cricket Australia will ask Usman Khawaja to explain his comments about the Perth pitch. The senior opener called the day one surface “a piece of s**t.” Officials want to hear from him when he returns to the team group.
Khawaja made the remark on Friday. He spoke for the Usman Khawaja Foundation. The foundation works for refugees and for remote families. He said he did not think the wicket was fair. He also asked if it made sense to see so many wickets fall on the first day.
The first Test ended inside two days. Match referee Ranjan Madugalle rated the pitch “very good.” CA highlighted this rating in a press release.
Reports say officials are unhappy with Khawaja’s comments. They spoke privately because they are not allowed to speak in public. They say CA will talk to Khawaja soon. Only then will they decide if he should face any action.
Khawaja stood by his view about the wicket. He said, “19 wickets on the first day, about 20 people got hit – that’s a great wicket, that seems real fair?” He added that the ICC gave the wicket the highest rating.
He then said, “The same thing happened last year, that day one wicket. Steve Smith is by far the best cricketer I’ve played with. He’s missing the middle of his bat by a long way, and he does not miss the middle of the bat. You can’t really predict up and down; your hands can’t catch up.”
“Day one wicket is a piece of shit, I’m happy to say that. They do get better day two, day three, but day four they start to crack up again. We know day two and day three is usually the best time to bat, that’s why whenever we play at Perth and we win the toss we bat first hoping that we can bat again maybe end of day two into day three.”
CA chief of cricket James Allsopp responded in Thursday’s release. He said: “The match referee’s ‘very good’ rating justifies our belief Perth Stadium produced a pitch that provided a fair balance between bat and ball.”
Khawaja scored two runs in the first innings. He did not bat in the second. Back spasms forced a change in the batting order. His time off the field meant he could not open.
He has since said he will be fit for the Gabba Test. This will be a day-night match. It starts on Thursday. Pressure is rising as this may be his last Test summer. He has averaged 30.28 since early 2024. Travis Head’s 123 in the first Test has also created talk about the top order.
Australia named an unchanged squad for the second Test. But the final XI is not confirmed. Players will meet on Sunday. They have an optional training session at the Gabba.
