David Warner has thrown his support behind Usman Khawaja to walk straight back into Australia’s opening berth for the third Ashes Test in Adelaide, arguing that Travis Head returning to No. 5 is the scenario “England will like least”. The left-hander’s view leaves the selectors with a sizeable decision once Khawaja’s troublesome back spasms are assessed later this week.
Australia, 1–0 up and able to wrap up the series in South Australia, paired Head with the uncapped Jake Weatherald at the top in Perth when Khawaja was ruled out. The stand worked well enough – two busy partnerships that set up an innings victory – and coach Andrew McDonald has already floated the idea of squeezing Khawaja into the middle order instead. Warner, though, feels the original plan remains the soundest.
“I think Uzzy comes back in, slides to the top, and Trav goes down,” Warner told reporters while on Big Bash duty with Sydney Thunder. “That’s probably a worse result for England, Travis Head going back down the order.”
Head’s numbers support the case. Eight of his ten Test hundreds have come from No. 5, and three of those were struck at Adelaide Oval. Warner accepts Head might open again at some point – perhaps when Khawaja calls time – but doubts whether it should be a permanent shift just yet.
“At the end of the day, Travis put his hand up to bat in the situation he was in,” Warner continued. “He came out and batted in the way Travis Head does. You see plenty of interviews from Trav saying that is Uzzy’s spot, and if when the time comes they ask him to go up the order, he wouldn’t mind to do that.
“We didn’t have that aggressor down in the middle order [in previous years]. Australia has that now as well, and moving forward with whatever Uzzy decides to do, if he hangs them up, they can look that way.
“But then it’s on all of us to understand that potentially might not work and Travis will have to go back down the order. And then they are going to have to look for another replacement. The selectors have a headache.”
Should Khawaja return to partner Weatherald, the national panel led by George Bailey must also keep half an eye on the future. Warner, who hung up the Test pads in early 2024, believes Queensland’s Matt Renshaw is still the most natural long-term fit.
“We’ve got a lot of young [opening] talent there at the moment that’s coming through,” he said. “But what I will say to George Bailey and the selectors is to show faith in their 31-year-old, Jake Weatherald. I think experience is key as well.
“So credit to them if they’ve picked him. But moving forward, Renshaw could be one. I think he’ll slide straight back in there. He’s had a taste of Test cricket.”
Australia’s opening slot has been a revolving door since Warner’s retirement. Prior to Khawaja’s injury the veteran had already partnered five different team-mates in 15 Tests. Stability at the top would ease the workload on an otherwise secure batting line-up that now includes Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith and the in-form Head.
Khawaja, 39 in December, has offered no public hints about when he plans to finish. The current series concludes at the SCG, the ground where he restarted his Test career with twin centuries in early 2022 and, some think, an appropriate farewell stage. For now the priority is simply passing the fitness test in Adelaide.
If he does, Warner’s message is uncomplicated. The familiar left-hander returns to the top, Head heads back to the middle, and England must contend with a line-up that looks alarmingly complete. It is hardly a dramatic reshuffle, more a reversion to a plan that has worked for two years. Whether the selectors agree will be known at the toss on Thursday morning.
In the meantime, McDonald, Bailey and company will mull over those “headaches”, knowing a win secures the urn with two matches spare – and, if Warner is right, presents England with a rather bigger one of their own.
