Code Sports.<\/a><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1764530230_348_poster-fallback.png\"\/)
<\/p>\n
He spent around an hour in the nets, facing throw downs from assistant coach Michael Di Venuto which included a barrage of short balls.<\/p>\n
Khawaja was reportedly moving better than he did during the Perth Test, but did show signs of pain when playing certain attacking shots.<\/p>\n
During the session, Khawaja also reportedly shot a thumbs up at physiotherapist Nick Jones \u2014 but the final call will be made during Tuesday night\u2019s training.<\/p>\n
Usman Khawaja\u2019s net session on Monday.Source: News Corp Australia<\/p>\n
Regardless of his fitness, Labuschagne spoke glowingly of his teammate.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think he needs advice. He\u2019s 38, he\u2019s been around the block a long time … he is an amazing player,\u201d he said to reporters on Monday.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s gone from No.3 to No.4 to opening (in his career), the way he\u2019s done that, navigated some tricky scenarios, the way he batted at Edgbaston, he\u2019s just been awesome.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t have any advice for him on it because from first class this year he\u2019s batted beautifully, the way he\u2019s been batting is awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n
Labuschagne was also certain that he and superstar Steve Smith won\u2019t find themselves at the top of the order again.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we can pretty much be assured that Steve and I won\u2019t open,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere you bat in the order just pushes back the time you come to the crease and I think that\u2019s why there is a batting order because certain times suit certain players and the way they play.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut at the end of the day it doesn\u2019t matter where you bat, we\u2019ve got to find a way to score runs and whatever happens or whatever order you go with, it\u2019s just about whatever is best for this game and how do we win this game and what\u2019s the best team to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
‘Whatever it takes to win a Test Match’ | 12:13<\/p>\n
LEGEND\u2019S MESSAGE TO POMS<\/p>\n
Geoffrey Boycott has urged England to \u201cuse their brains\u201d as Ben Stokes\u2019s men go in search of an Ashes series-levelling win in this week\u2019s second Test in Brisbane. <\/p>\n
England fell 1-0 down in the five-match series following a humiliating eight-wicket loss to Australia inside two days in last month\u2019s first Test in Perth. <\/p>\n
Batting collapses cost England dear as the tourists lost five wickets for 12 runs in their first innings and four for 11 in their second. <\/p>\n
Former England opener Boycott insisted Stokes\u2019s men could win at Brisbane\u2019s Gabba ground with a more measured approach.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it doesn\u2019t help our chances of success if Ben Stokes keeps encouraging our batsmen to attack, attack with one fingerhovering over the self-destruct button,\u201d Boycott wrote in his Daily Telegraph column. <\/p>\n
\u201cNobody is asking the players to stop being positive because they have given us some marvellous, thrilling and entertaining cricket. All we ask is for them to use their brains and realise there are times when they should throttle back and be aware of situations and bat accordingly.\u201d <\/p>\n
Ben Stokes is seen during an England nets session.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Boycott, 85, an Ashes winner in both England and Australia, also addressed Stokes\u2019s apology for a \u201cslip of the tongue\u201d after the all-rounder responded to criticism from former players of the team\u2019s limited pre-series preparations by referring to \u201chas-beens\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cTo call past players \u2018has-beens\u2019 was disrespectful especially as some of those \u2018has-beens\u2019 played in teams that won the Ashes in England and Australia,\u201d said Boycott. <\/p>\n
\u201cI am glad Ben has half apologised, saying it was a slip of the tongue, because none of this team have won the Ashes in Australia. Get the job done, because then you don\u2019t need to say anything and you can bask in all the glory coming your way.\u201d <\/p>\n
The second Test, a day\/night match, starts on Thursday with England looking for a first win in 17 Tests in Australia, a run stretching back to their triumphant 2010\/11 tour.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Marnus Labuschange has thrown his support behind under-siege opener Usman Khawaja, declaring \u201cI don\u2019t think he needs advice\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":321231,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[64,63,740,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-321230","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cricket","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-cricket","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321230","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=321230"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321230\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/321231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=321230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=321230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=321230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}