Australia have confirmed a 14-man squad for the second Ashes Test at the Gabba, and, as most of us expected, Usman Khawaja remains in it. The left-hander will play if his back holds up, yet Travis Head’s rapid hundred in Perth – and Head’s own remark that “it’s a role I’ve talked about doing” – has sharpened an awkward conversation for the selectors.
Alex Malcolm put it crisply: England must not dismiss Head’s effort as “a freak innings by a freak player”. That one line captures both the brilliance of the knock and the danger of reading too much, or too little, into a single day’s cricket.
First the basics. Khawaja, 38 next month, owns 6,055 Test runs at 43.56 and, crucially, averages a tick over 50 at the Gabba in first-class cricket. He was pencilled in to open throughout this series alongside Marcus Harris, only for a spasming back to limit him to a brief, uncomfortable stay in Perth where Brydon Carse found his outside edge. Australia still won by an innings, thanks in large part to Head’s 145 from 120 balls.
Now the knotty bit. Do the selectors keep faith with an opener who has done the job for three years, or ride the wave and push Head to the top?
The case for sticking
If Khawaja was one of the two best openers last week, he probably still is today. Bad backs flare up; they do not automatically finish careers. Since the 2023 Ashes he has averaged 31.84 – hardly sparkling, but openers worldwide would recognise that grind. On the Caribbean tour he soaked up more than 300 deliveries, the kind of hidden labour that lets middle-order hitters cash in later.
Back in domestic cricket he logged 69, 46, 0 and 87 for Queensland, so it is hardly a man without runs. And the pink ball? He averages 50.20 against it. Nothing in those numbers screams “finished”.
The case for moving on
Head’s century showed, again, how quickly a game can tilt when a counter-attacker gets going. If Australia back him to replicate that intent at the very top, they could slot Cameron Green or even a second spinner into the middle order and keep the overall balance. Age matters, too: at some stage you have to plot life after Khawaja, and the temptation is to start now rather than later, especially when the player himself will not be around for the 2027 campaign.
There is also the rhythm of an Ashes series. England’s attack found very little help on that Perth surface; the Gabba, under lights, should do more. A proactive opener might force James Anderson and Ollie Robinson off their lengths earlier than a traditional blocker would.
Is there a middle way?
Possibly. One floated idea is a flexible order: Khawaja opens in the first innings, Head in the second if a chase demands quick runs. Another is to leave the XI intact and ask Head to be ready, long-term, for the job when Khawaja finally bows out. It sounds tidy, yet batting orders rarely stay neat once the ball starts swinging.
What seems certain is that a straight Khawaja drop would close the door on a player who, only two summers ago, walked back into the Test side and peeled off twin hundreds at the SCG. Australia have already run through David Warner, Matt Renshaw, Harris and now Khawaja in the post-Warner scramble; chopping again risks further churn.
Chairman of selectors George Bailey offered no public hint, but his group meet on Monday. They must balance the cold numbers, the warm memories and the reality that form can pivot on a single delivery. Head’s innings gives them options; Khawaja’s record gives them pause.
Look, there is no perfect call here. Whatever side the panel lands on, it needs to be more than a gut reaction to one dashing century or one sore back. England, meanwhile, will prepare for both possibilities – and hope, above all, that Malcolm is wrong and Perth really was “a freak innings by a freak player”.
