Australian veteran Usman Khawaja has for the first time spoken publicly about the back spasms that plagued him during last week’s Ashes opener in Perth while declaring himself fit and ready to play the second Test against England at the Gabba.

The 38-year-old wasn’t permitted to open the batting on day one of the first Ashes Test after spending too much time off the field due to back spasms, throwing the team’s top order into disarray.

Speaking at a fundraising event for the Usman Khawaja Foundation at the Queensland Cricketers’ Club on Friday, the left-hander confirmed he had been caught short by England’s calamitous collapse in the West Australian capital, revealing he was so desperate to open in the second innings that he ignored the advice of team physios and fielded on day two with the assistance of strong anti-inflammatories and painkillers.

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“I knew the only way I could open for the team again, I had to go on the field,” Khawaja explained.

“I had anti-inflammatories, real strong ones, was on really strong pain killers … and I got myself to a place where I could actually field again.

“Before I went on, the physio said, ‘You’re feeling good now but the slightest movement can make it three times, four times, 10 times worse, you should know that’s a risk’.

“I was like, ‘I either do that or I don’t open for my country’.”

“Usman is under the cosh!” | 01:27

Khawaja reaggravated his back while leaping for a ball sailing over the slips cordon, once again forcing him off the field.

“As I landed, I was like, ‘Oh no, I’m gone here’,” he recalled.

“I had to call (Australian wicketkeeper Alex) Carey over and I was like, ‘I can’t stand up’.

“I walked off the field, and I was pretty devastated.”

Khawaja revealed that he planned to get an epidural in his back so could bat in second innings, a hospital visit that was ultimately cancelled courtesy of Travis Head’s 69-ball century.

“I’m really glad that we got (the match) done that night, because the next day, I already had the radiology booked … I was going to get an epidural in my back, so I can actually move somewhat,” Khawaja said.

“I had it booked in, ready to go, so if the team needed me, I was there again.”

On Friday afternoon, Khawaja was named in Australia’s unchanged squad for the second Ashes Test, which gets underway in Brisbane on December 4. However, it remains to be seen whether the Queenslander retains his spot in the starting XI following a recent form slump.