![\"Usman](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/7009d6519f1a86e5fbad4ce91e71f52461d582e5.jpg\")
Camera IconUsman Khawaja found the going tough in Perth. Credit: SAEED KHAN\/AFP<\/p>\nAustralia stand-in captain Steve Smith has disagreed with injured teammate Usman Khawaja\u2019s blunt assessment of the Optus Stadium pitch his side was confronted with in the first Test of The Ashes, but conceded the surface was \u201ctricky\u201d to bat on.<\/p>\n
A total of 19 batters came and went on the opening day of the blockbuster series as the fast bowling attacks of both sides preyed on vulnerabilities in their opposition\u2019s batting line-ups, before the contest drew to a conclusion late on day two.<\/p>\n
Despite the pitch being given the best possible rating by the ICC, Khawaja \u2014 who was not able to take up his customary position at the top of the order in either innings as he battled back spasms \u2014 said the pitch had presented on the first day as a \u201cpiece of s..t\u201d.<\/p>\n
Smith said conditions were not easy for batters but stopped well short of agreeing with Khawaja\u2019s call, saying they were \u201cprobably not the words I would have used\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first day, it was tricky for batting. It had good pace, good bounce, quite a bit of seam movement, two good bowling attacks going at it, so when that happens, sometimes it can be tough to bat,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s part and parcel of playing in Australia for the last few years, it has those moments where it is really hard to bat, and you\u2019ve got to try and find ways to get through.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought on a couple of occasions, we were close to, in that first innings, getting through. When Marn (Marnus Labuschagne) and myself were batting, if we got through that little period, things would\u2019ve got a little bit easier.<\/p>\n
Camera IconUsman Khawaja found the going tough in Perth. Credit: SAEED KHAN\/AFP<\/p>\n
\u201cI know Alex (Carey) said later that evening it was quite nice for batting when that ball got a little bit older.\u201d<\/p>\n
In Khawaja\u2019s absence, Travis Head \u2014 who posted a match-winning century after being elevated to open the batting in the second innings of the Perth Test \u2014 is expected to retain his newfound position at the top of the order.<\/p>\n
Like coach Andrew McDonald immediately after his side\u2019s series-opening win, Smith turned down an opportunity to guarantee the 38-year-old would take back his place when fit again.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll look at this game, see how it (Head opening) goes, and then I\u2019m sure that\u2019s a question for the selectors going forward,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s doing all the right things to try and get himself fit as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know with Uz, he\u2019s been a quality player over a long period of time. I think anyone who plays over 80 Tests is a good cricketer and he\u2019s done exceptionally well.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australia stand-in captain Steve Smith has disagreed with injured teammate Usman Khawaja\u2019s blunt assessment of the Optus Stadium…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":324357,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[64,63,740,588,85,33383],"class_list":["post-324356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cricket","tag-sport","tag-sports","tag-the-ashes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324356","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=324356"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324356\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/324357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=324356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=324356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=324356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}