In a surprise move, veteran Australia national cricket team opener Usman Khawaja was not allowed to open the innings for his team on the first day of The Ashes 2025-26 at the Perth Stadium.
This happened because Usman Khawaja took the ill-timed decision to leave the field during the first Test of the five-match series to get treatment for his back spasms.
“Toilet break and strain” – CA on Usman Khawaja’s exit from the field
During England’s first innings on the first day, Khawaja walked off the field for a considerable period of time as his partner Mitchell Starc ran into the middle of the English batting line-up.
This proved costly for him and Australia as the umpires prevented him from opening the innings after the visitors were bowled out for 172 runs.
According to the rules, a player has to spend a certain amount of time on the field before being allowed to bat or bowl and in the case of Usman Khawaja, he had to wait ten minutes before being allowed to bat.
In his absence, Jake Weatherald opened the innings with Marnus Labuschagne and was out for a duck on the second ball. The early dismissal meant that Khawaja could not come in to bat at No. 3 and Steve Smith came in the middle.
Cricket Australia (CA) also revealed the reason behind Usman Khawaja’s absence from the field in the first innings, citing it as just a “toilet break and stretching”.
Poor management… beyond ridiculous… – Tom Moody criticizes Usman Khawaja
Cricketers turned commentators Michael Vaughan, Michael Hussey and Tom Moody shared their views on the incident with the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) Director of Cricket criticizing Khawaja on-air.
Fox Cricket commentator Mark Howard said, “He has to adhere to some timing constraints to be able to start batting.”
“Marnus (Labuschagne) is probably whispering in Steve’s ear ‘I don’t want to open’,” Michael Vaughan said.
Michael Hussey said, “All the talk going into the Test match was – would Marnus open the batting? He was happy to be at number three.”
Tom Moody said, “Poor management…beyond joking…just as Starc led the attack, we needed Uzi to lead the batting.”
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The timing went wrong – Pat Cummins
Khawaja eventually came in to bat at number 4 with his fingers heavily taped on both hands and managed only 2 runs before falling to Brydon Carse.
In another update, Cricket Australia (CA) said that Usman Khawaja was struggling with back stiffness and was stretching to recover from cramps.
Cricket Australia said, “Battled back stiffness all day; got back spasms the second time he left the field; was stretching to get through the spasms; unfortunate timing because of the way the innings ended; no injuries before today.”
Meanwhile, Pat Cummins revealed that the experienced opening batsman was fully fit before the match. He said:
“The timing went wrong, some quick timing at the end meant he couldn’t bat, missed a few minutes. No, he was absolutely fine, 100 per cent fit.”
Pat Cummins on Uzi: “Time went in the wrong direction, some quick pace at the end meant he couldn’t bat, missed a few minutes.”
Pat said, “No, he was absolutely fine before the Test match, 100 per cent fit.” https://t.co/xKPvcNwy4D
– Ben Cameron (@BenCameron23) 21 November 2025