{"id":385959,"date":"2026-01-02T02:50:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T02:50:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/385959\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T02:50:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T02:50:15","slug":"the-ashes-usman-khawaja-claims-reaction-to-back-injury-after-playing-golf-in-perth-was-racially-motivated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/385959\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ashes: Usman Khawaja claims reaction to back injury after playing golf in Perth was racially motivated"},"content":{"rendered":"

Usman Khawaja has used his retirement press conference to launch a stinging attack on his critics, claiming there was a double standard among former players and the media over his back injury suffered after playing a week of golf before the first Test of The Ashes.<\/p>\n

Khawaja, who was blasted for being unable to bat in both innings in the Perth Test, said there had been plenty of other cricketers who had played golf before they played a Test and also said other players who were unable to play because they had been injured after having \u201c15 schooners\u201d the night before a game had also not criticised like he had been.<\/p>\n

The veteran announced on Friday morning the fifth and final game of The Ashes at the SCG would be the last of his international career, which started at the same venue in 2011 and is set to span 88 Test matches.<\/p>\n

His appearance in front of the media touched on a number of different topics, but he saved special attention for the response to his recent back injury, which limited his contributions in Perth and emerged after he played several rounds of golf in the lead-in to the game.<\/p>\n

Khawaja said he has no issues with being criticised over his performances but felt the sustained scrutiny over the injury was another example of how he had been treated differently to others over the course of his career.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hurt my back, I had back spasms, and it\u2019s something I couldn\u2019t control, and the way the media and the past players came out and attacked me \u2014 I could\u2019ve copped it for two days, but I copped it for about five days straight,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was quite personal in terms of things like \u2018he\u2019s not committed to the team, he\u2019s only worried about himself, he played this golf comp the day before, he\u2019s selfish, he doesn\u2019t train hard enough, he didn\u2019t train the day before the game, he\u2019s lazy\u2019. These are the same stereotypes, the racial stereotypes, I\u2019ve grown up with my whole life.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought the media and the past players and everyone else had moved past them, but we obviously haven\u2019t moved past them, because I\u2019ve never seen anyone been treated like that in the Australian cricket team before \u2014 for their performances, yeah, but not for the uncontrollables, the way you guys (the media) went at me.<\/p>\n

\"ACamera IconA back injury limited Usman Khawaja\u2019s contributions in Perth. Credit: Darrian Traynor\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cI can give you countless numbers of guys who\u2019ve played golf the day before and been injured, you guys haven\u2019t said a thing, no one else has said a thing. I can give you even more guys who\u2019ve had 15 schooners the night before and gotten injured, no one\u2019s said a word \u2014 \u2018it\u2019s alright, they\u2019re just being Aussie larrakins, they\u2019re just being lads\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

A proud Muslim, Khawaja has become increasingly outspoken on social and political issues in recent years, including the ongoing war in Gaza.<\/p>\n

Shortly after the war broke out in 2023, he penned \u2018freedom is a human right\u2019 and \u2018all lives are equal\u2019 on the side of his cricket shoes, which he was barred from wearing in games by the ICC despite pleading the message was humanitarian rather than political.<\/p>\n

Khawaja said his willingness to take public stances on contentious issues had ratcheted up the intensity of the criticism he had faced.<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand that I\u2019ve talked about certain issues outside of cricket, which leaves me exposed, which a lot of people don\u2019t like,\u201d Khawaja said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI still find it hard when I say everyone deserves freedom and Palestinians deserve freedom and equal rights, why that is such a big issue.<\/p>\n

\"UsmanCamera IconUsman Khawaja penned \u201call lives are equal\u201d on the side of his shoes shortly after the war in Gaza broke out. Credit: Paul Kane\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cEven when we talk about Australian politics, we get all these right-wing politicians that are anti-immigration and (anti-Islam), and I speak up against them. I know people don\u2019t love that, but I feel like I have to, because these guys are trying to divide, create hate and animosity in the Australian community. I\u2019m trying to do the opposite, I\u2019m trying to bring everyone together.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am an immigrant in Australia, I came here at the age of five. It\u2019s personal. When you start attacking my faith, my belief system, it is personal, so I am going to speak about that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want the journey for the next Usman Khawaja to be different. I want you to treat him or her all the same, not have racial stereotypes around who they might be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Khawaja opened the press conference by sharing a story of seeing Michael Slater leave the SCG in his red Ferrari and dreaming he too would one day be a Test cricketer.<\/p>\n

\u201cGod, through cricket, has given me far more than I ever imagined. He\u2019s given me memories I\u2019ll carry forever, friendships that go well beyond the game and lessons (which) shaped who I am off the field,\u201d Khawaja said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut no career belongs to one person, I obviously had a lot of help. To my parents, who are over there, thank you for your sacrifices that never made the highlight reel . . . the early mornings, the long drives, the belief when the results weren\u2019t there.<\/p>\n

\"UsmanCamera IconUsman Khawaja with wife Rachel and daughters Aisha and Ayla. Credit: Darrian Traynor\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope I repaid your sacrifice in leaving everything behind in Pakistan to come to Australia to give us kids a better life.<\/p>\n

\u201cRachy, my beloved wife, this journey has asked more of you than it\u2019s ever asked of me \u2014 particularly because you read everything that goes on in the press. The missed moments, the long stretches apart, the pressures that come with this life and taking care of the kids on your own. You\u2019ve carried our family so I can chase my dream and I\u2019ll always be thankful for that.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo my kids, Aisha and Ayla, you gave me perspective and reminded me of what really matters. Win or lose, everything I did out there, I hope one day, that you\u2019ll be proud of what I achieved, but also, what I was like as a human.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Usman Khawaja has used his retirement press conference to launch a stinging attack on his critics, claiming there…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":385960,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[64,63,740,755,588,85,33383],"class_list":["post-385959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cricket","tag-golf","tag-sport","tag-sports","tag-the-ashes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385959","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=385959"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385959\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/385960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=385959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=385959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=385959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}