Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg says it is “drawing a long bow” to blame Usman Khawaja’s pre-match golf for the back spasms that disrupted Australia’s opening Test against England in Perth.
The 38-year-old batter left the field late on day one, right as England’s first innings unravelled. With Khawaja stretched out behind the boundary rope, stand-in skipper Steven Smith was seen asking whether his senior opener could return. He did get back on just before the innings closed but, under ICC timing rules, had to sit out the same period he’d been off. Marnus Labuschagne was pushed up to open, Smith batted at No.3 and Khawaja eventually wandered in at No.4, only to nick off for 2.
Day two looked calmer. Khawaja fielded all 15 overs before lunch and, moving freely, offered no obvious sign of discomfort. CA’s medical staff later stressed the problem was new, not something he had been nursing through the build-up.
That build-up, though, has come under the microscope. Khawaja played 18 holes on Tuesday, another round on Wednesday between training blocks, then skipped Thursday’s optional hit-out altogether, joining Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland for a final game. A handful of coaches tagged along. The routine is hardly unusual – players from both sides often swap nets for fairways – yet the timing, followed by an injury, raised eyebrows.
Greenberg, a keen golfer who spent Friday’s play sitting alongside Perth professional Min Woo Lee, rejected any causal link.
“[Golf] has held him in good stead over the last couple of years. It’s not uncommon for a lot of them to play golf a day prior,” Greenberg told SEN. “Did that correlate to any of the issues? I personally don’t think so.”
“Usman’s a very seasoned campaigner, he knows his body well, and he knows how to get himself prepared for cricket. So I think that is drawing a long bow. A lot of people talk about cricket being played between the ears.”
“So getting some time away from being in your hotel or at training I think is really important. I noticed Mitch Starc played golf with him, so it certainly didn’t impact his performance.”
Golf, in fact, sits close to the heart of this Australian squad. Team bonding trips to northern Scotland before the World Test Championship final, regular nine-hole evenings on tour, and a quiet belief among strength-and-conditioning staff that low-impact walking does bowlers more good than another weights session. England’s players share the habit; Ben Stokes often speaks about the mental release.
Still, the optics are unavoidable when an opener goes down inside a session. Former quicks on radio suggested golf swings can tighten the lower back, especially for a left-hander like Khawaja. Sports physio Michelle Cooper, speaking on ABC Grandstand, took a softer view, noting that “eighteen holes is a decent walk, but if you’re conditioned to it the load is pretty manageable”.
The bigger issue, she felt, was timing. “Had he played on Monday and rested Thursday, no-one says a word,” she said. “Injury plus narrative equals story.”
Inside the Australian camp the mood is relaxed. Khawaja practised lightly on Saturday morning – basic throw-downs, a few slips catches – and holds no concerns about taking the field when England bat again. CA will reassess once the match finishes but, at the moment, there is no suggestion of him missing the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne.
Smith, asked about the reshuffle at stumps, kept it simple. “That’s sport. You adapt,” he said, before adding with a grin, “Marn loved the extra shine on the new ball anyway.”
Whether the episode sparks any formal review is doubtful. Players’ schedules on tour are largely self-managed, with support staff offering guidance rather than strict directives. Provided workloads are logged and recovery boxes ticked, golfers can keep golfing.
That leaves the wider debate, hovering every time a modern cricketer dares to enjoy a hobby. Is balance a luxury, or a key part of elite preparation? Greenberg is clear on where he stands, and for now, at least, Khawaja has plenty of allies.
If he peels off a big score in the second dig, expect the chatter to fade as quickly as it flared. If not, the fairways of Joondalup may again find themselves on the back page.
