Usman Khawaja will front up in next week’s Sydney Test, even though no-one inside Australia’s dressing-room is entirely sure how long the veteran intends to keep going. Head coach Andrew McDonald confirmed on Monday that the 39-year-old opener-turned-floater is inked in for the New Year’s match, and that any talk of a farewell is “external” noise rather than an internal reality.
“We’ve been really clear that we haven’t had a conversation,” McDonald said. “He’s with his family at the moment, having a couple of days off. We’ll build into Sydney, and we’re always having conversations about where players are at and speaking directly with players. And there’s no indication at my end that he’s calling it in Sydney.”
Khawaja’s 2025 Ashes has already been a stop-start affair. Back spasms ruled him out of the series opener in Perth, and illness to Steven Smith saw him recalled from the sidelines to bat at No 4 in Adelaide less than an hour before the toss. Scores of 82 and 40 there, followed by a battling 29 on Melbourne’s tricky surface, have eased immediate questions about form, yet his age and the eight-month gap to Australia’s next Test – at home to Bangladesh in August – keep the bigger picture on the radar.
“So that’ll be something that we’ll discuss,” McDonald continued, “but his performance in this calendar year has been good enough to warrant selection, so I’d say he’d be there marking centre in Sydney.”
Green’s moving target
While Khawaja is locked in, Cameron Green is still trying to nail down exactly where he belongs. In his last five Tests the all-rounder has batted in five different spots, shuffling around stronger performers rather than holding his own territory.
“He fits around others at the moment,” McDonald admitted. “He hasn’t nailed down the spot.”
Green’s series returns – 24, 45, 0, 7, 17 and 19 – explain the shuffle. In Melbourne he slid behind Alex Carey, whose breezy 63, 106 and 72 earlier in the Ashes have cemented him at No 6. Green skipped Monday’s optional hit-out, as did Khawaja, while Beau Webster flew south for a single Big Bash appearance with Hobart before re-joining the Test squad on Wednesday. The tall Tasmanian all-rounder “will be considered for Sydney”, McDonald confirmed.
Intent, or lack of it
The coach also touched on Marnus Labuschagne’s quieter run. After opening the series briskly, the right-hander has spent long periods becalmed. McDonald called it “a concern” but stopped short of suggesting a change, hinting instead at a tweak in tempo. It was a gentle nudge rather than public rebuke, typical of the understated messaging that has characterised this regime.
Pitch talk and the wider picture
Former captain Aaron Finch, commentating at the MCG, summed up player frustration with the surface that produced another two-day finish. “To happen twice in four Tests is very disappointing,” he said, referring to the truncated matches in Adelaide and Melbourne. Australia’s attack thrived on the uneven bounce, yet the short contests have left top-order batters short of meaningful time in the middle – partly why selectors are reluctant to judge harshly.
What comes next
Selectors meet later this week; the XI is unlikely to change dramatically, but there is still scope for a tweak – particularly if the SCG looks spin-friendly or if they decide Green needs a breather. Whatever happens, Khawaja will be there, shoulders relaxed, marking centre. Anything beyond that remains his call, not ours.
