{"id":388192,"date":"2026-01-03T03:44:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T03:44:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/388192\/"},"modified":"2026-01-03T03:44:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T03:44:09","slug":"jason-gillespie-defends-usman-khawajas-racism-stance-but-differs-on-golf-controversy-its-not-abuse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/388192\/","title":{"rendered":"Jason Gillespie defends Usman Khawaja\u2019s racism stance but differs on golf controversy: ‘It\u2019s not abuse’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Veteran Australian fast bowler Jason Gillespie<\/a> weighed in on Usman Khawaja<\/a>\u2019s retirement press conference, where the left-hander hit back at his critics. Khawaja also spoke candidly about facing racial stereotypes and being treated differently from other Australian players throughout his career.<\/p>\n

\"Sydney Sydney Test will be Usman Khawaja’s farewell match.(AP) <\/p>\n

Gillespie did not question Khawaja for speaking out about the racism he faced, but he also made it clear that he didn\u2019t fully agree with everything the Australian opener said during the press conference.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not questioning the racism that Usman has faced throughout his life,\u201d he told ABC Sport.<\/p>\n

During the press conference, Khawaja addressed the backlash he faced for playing three days of golf before the Ashes <\/a>opener in Perth, where he later suffered back spasms and was unable to open the batting for Australia in the second innings.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve actually always admired him and applauded him for speaking up because racism is a big stain on our society, and it always needs to be called out. He referenced racism when he was talking about the criticism that he received. A few former players came out and quite rightly questioned whether that [playing golf] was the best possible preparation,” he added.<\/p>\n

Also Read – Ben Stokes defends Brendon McCullum partnership as Ashes debacle triggers review talk: ‘I can\u2019t see anyone else’<\/a><\/p>\n

The former Australian pacer backed Khawaja for speaking out on racism and also weighed in on the controversy surrounding his decision to play golf before the Ashes opener, a move that drew sharp criticism and intense scrutiny.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing questioned over that and being held to account over your choices, that\u2019s not bullying, it\u2019s not abuse, that\u2019s all part and parcel of being a professional. You can\u2019t really throw a temper tantrum when asked to take accountability for the job you\u2019re actually paid to do, \u201c he added.<\/p>\n

Gillespie counters Khawaja’s lazy claims<\/p>\n

Gillespie shared his perspective on the Ashes discussion, responding to Khawaja\u2019s remarks by defending the scrutiny around preparation while questioning claims that Khawaja had been labelled \u201clazy\u201d by the media.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the media in this space have been very consistent throughout this Ashes series. They\u2019ve consistently questioned the preparation of the England side. I don\u2019t see how that\u2019s been any different.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUsman also referenced that he\u2019s been called lazy his whole life. I haven\u2019t seen anything in the media that\u2019s been said or written by anyone that\u2019s referenced Usman being lazy, so I\u2019m not sure where that\u2019s come from,\u201d Gillespie said.<\/p>\n

Khawaja will walk into his farewell Test at the age of 39 with a body of work to be proud of. Across 87 appearances, he has piled up 6,206 runs, striking 16 centuries and 28 half-centuries, while maintaining a healthy average of 43.39 from 157 innings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Veteran Australian fast bowler Jason Gillespie weighed in on Usman Khawaja\u2019s retirement press conference, where the left-hander hit…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":388193,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[208149,64,63,46386,755,138790,2966,85,70541,208150],"class_list":["post-388192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-ashes-opener","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-players","tag-golf","tag-jason-gillespie","tag-racism","tag-sports","tag-usman-khawaja","tag-usman-khawaja-racism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388192","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=388192"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388192\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/388193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=388192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=388192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=388192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}