Usman Khawaja has announced that he will retire from international cricket after the final match of the ongoing Ashes series in Sydney.
Khawaja, 39, will enter his last Test with 87 caps and 6206 runs, including 16 centuries.
“I’ve been thinking about it, not wholly, but for a while,” Khawaja said with his family watching in the SCG press room. “Moving into this series, I kind of had an inkling in my head that this would be the last series.
“I talked to Rachel [Khawaja’s wife] about it a fair bit, and I knew this was a big chance. I didn’t leave the door fully shut, because I knew there was a chance I could play on. I know [coach] Andrew McDonald, even right till the very end, when I told him a few days ago, he was still thinking about how I could get to India [in 2027].
“I’m glad I get to leave on my own terms, with a little bit of dignity, and go out at the SCG where I love. But I think the start of the series was a pretty tough time. Then going into Adelaide and not being picked initially for the game, that was probably a sign for me to say, ‘all right, it’s time to move on’.”
Khawaja revealed he had considered retirement at several stages in the last two years, saying that he had spoken to McDonald about finishing around the Boxing Day Test against India last summer.
“I said to him, if, at any stage right now, if you want me to retire, I will retire straight away. I have no issue. I’m not hanging on for myself,” Khawaja said. “That was the most annoying thing, because I felt people were coming at me, and I felt they were saying I was selfish for staying on. But I wasn’t staying on for myself.
“Andrew McDonald practically said, no, I want you to stay. We need you for Sri Lanka and the World Test Championship. I want you to stay on. And so I did.”
Khawaja confirmed he would continue to play in the BBL for Brisbane Heat after his international retirement. He also hoped to continue playing Sheffield Shield cricket for Queensland later in the summer.
Usman Khawaja with his family at the SCG after announcing his international retirement•Getty Images
The SCG, where Khawaja’s Test career will draw to a close, is also where it began and where it was revived. He made his debut against England in the final Test of the 2010-11 series. He later returned after a two-year absence from Test cricket to score twin centuries in the 2021-22 Ashes when recalled to replace Travis Head, who had Covid.
The back-to-back hundreds made him indispensable and he was moved up the order to open. He did not miss another Test until this Ashes series, when back spasms, which he had initially suffered in Perth, ruled him out of the Brisbane Test.
It appeared his career may have been ended by the selectors when he was left out of the side for Adelaide, but he earned a last-minute reprieve to bat in the middle order when Steven Smith fell ill. Khawaja took advantage of being dropped early in the first innings to make 82 and then added 40 in the second, enough to be retained for the MCG Test and ultimately be able to announce his own ending.
There is a chance Australia will again be on the search for an opener when they next play Test cricket against Bangladesh in August. Jake Weatherald and Travis Head have been the combination since the second innings in Perth, but Weatherald enters the final Test in Sydney needing a substantial score while Head’s role is not locked in beyond the Ashes
“Usman has made a huge contribution to Australian cricket both through his outstanding achievements as one of our most stylish and resilient batters since his Test debut 15 years ago, and off field, particularly through the Usman Khawaja Foundation,” Cricket Australia CEO Todd Greenberg said. “On behalf of Australian Cricket I would like to thank and congratulate Usman for all he has achieved.
After his debut, where he replaced the injured Ricky Ponting, becoming the first Muslim to play Test cricket for Australia, Khawaja struggled to cement a regular place in the side. The first of his 16 centuries came in 2015, against New Zealand in Brisbane, following a two-year absence. He would make hundreds in three of his next four Tests.
However, over the next few years, he would find himself regularly dropped or left out on the subcontinent. A match-saving innings against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi in 2018 went a long way to correcting that record. However, when he lost his place midway through the 2019 Ashes, there was no certainty he would find a way back.
Usman Khawaja hugs his father after announcing his international retirement•Getty Images
Then came the Sydney recall and from there he did not look back for the next 18 months. He played a series-defining role on a hugely significant return to Pakistan, made what was then a career best 195 not out against South Africa, finished as Australia’s leading run-scorer in India, and produced an immense performance in the first Test of the 2023 Ashes. From his recall to the end of that England series, he averaged 60.48 from 22 Tests with seven centuries.
Since then, returns have slipped, and only one more century has followed, although that was a career-best 232 in Galle early last year, and he has chipped in with other handy contributions.
Ahead of Khawaja’s final Test, only six players have scored more Test runs from the age of 35.
While Khawaja will end his Test career in the middle order, there is a chance Australia will again be on the search for an opener when they next play Test cricket against Bangladesh in August. Jake Weatherald and Travis Head have been the combination since the second innings in Perth, but Weatherald enters the final Test in Sydney needing a substantial score while Head’s role is not locked in beyond the Ashes.
Andrew McGlashan is a deputy editor at ESPNcricinfo
