{"id":275114,"date":"2025-11-21T09:02:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T09:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/275114\/"},"modified":"2025-11-21T09:02:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T09:02:09","slug":"why-usman-khawaja-couldnt-open-batting-in-perth-explained-opening-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/275114\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Usman Khawaja couldn\u2019t open batting in Perth explained, opening rules"},"content":{"rendered":"

Batsman Usman Khawaja has been caught up in a bizarre injury ruling on the first day of the First Ashes Test in Perth<\/a> and deemed unable to open for the Aussies.<\/p>\n

The Queenslander spent limited time on the field as teammate Mitchell Starc tore through England on Friday with a career-best<\/a> seven-wicket haul.<\/p>\n

But given the time Khawaja spent off the field during the England innings, the opener was deemed ineligible to come out to bat when Starc rolled through the final wicket.<\/p>\n

Watch The Ashes 2025\/26 LIVE and ad-break free during play with FOX CRICKET on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1. <\/a><\/p>\n

This was despite the pleas of captain Steve Smith to get Khawaja back out onto the field late in England\u2019s innings, but he didn\u2019t make the cut-off.<\/p>\n

Fox Cricket cameras caught Smith animatedly gesturing to the bench before the 31st over on Friday, appealing for Khawaja\u2019s return as England sat at seven wickets down.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

And while he did return to the field two overs later, he didn\u2019t leave enough time until international cricket rules.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s certain time constraints he has to match to be able to open the batting,\u201d Fox Cricket commentator Mark Howard said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMarnus (Labuschagne) is probably in Steve\u2019s ear going \u2018I don\u2019t want to open\u2019,\u201d Michael Vaughan said.<\/p>\n

MORE CRICKET NEWS<\/p>\n

ASHES LIVE: Follow all the action from the first Test at Perth Stadium<\/a><\/p>\n

TALKING POINTS: Khawaja truth laid bare; why Stokes gamble could backfire<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2018BE YOURSELF\u2019: Warner\u2019s words to debutant in \u2018emotional\u2019 baggy green ceremony<\/a><\/p>\n

Steve Smith was trying to get Usman Khawaja on the field.Source: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was all the talking coming into the Test match \u2013 would Marnus open the batting? He was happy at number three,\u201d Michael Hussey added.<\/p>\n

Tom Moody took aim at the Aussies for the Khawaja blunder. <\/p>\n

\u201cPoor management\u2026 Beyond a joke\u2026 like Starc led the attack we needed Uzzie to lead the batting,\u201d Moody said. <\/p>\n

Khawaja was seen out on the field with fingers on both hands strongly taped.<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t bat in Thursday\u2019s optional net session, and spent minimal time with the bat at Wednesday\u2019s training.<\/p>\n

EVERY WICKET! Starc’s career-best haul | 05:35<\/p>\n

England\u2019s collapse came so quickly, they lost their last few wickets in just 25 minutes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not good enough,\u201d Vaughan said.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s now England\u2019s shortest innings under the Brendon McCullum\/Ben Stokes leadership.<\/p>\n

As a result of Khawaja\u2019s absence, Marnus Labuschagne was promoted to partner debutant Jake Weatherald at the top of the order.<\/p>\n

But it only got worse for the Aussies when Weatherald fell for a second-ball duck \u2013 and Khawaja was still unable to come to the crease due to the time restrictions. <\/p>\n

Stokes left stunned by Starc special | 00:55<\/p>\n

When Khawaja did eventually appear, his former opening partner David Warner was concerned with the Queenslander\u2019s fitness.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe just seems a bit stiff,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe just doesn\u2019t look like the normal Usman Khawaja walking to the crease there. <\/p>\n

\u201cI sense a little bit of discomfort there. I don\u2019t know whether it is his back or what, but that is not the normal approach when he walks out to bat.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Batsman Usman Khawaja has been caught up in a bizarre injury ruling on the first day of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":275115,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[112785,112789,9982,112781,112787,1721,16326,309,591,112786,98898,112791,107093,19030,1619,3604,112788,101,112783,81753,112782,112790,112792,56,54,55,112784],"class_list":["post-275114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket","tag-baggy-green-ceremony","tag-bizarre-injury","tag-brendon-mccullum","tag-career-best-seven-wicket-haul","tag-catherine-healey","tag-cricket","tag-cricket-news","tag-england","tag-europe","tag-international-cricket-rules","tag-jake-weatherald","tag-mark-howard","tag-michael-hussey","tag-michael-vaughan","tag-mitchell-starc","tag-northern-europe","tag-optional-net-session","tag-sports","tag-stays-focusedthe","tag-steven-smith","tag-time-constraints","tag-time-restrictions","tag-tom-moody","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-wicket-efforts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=275114"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275114\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/275115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=275114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=275114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=275114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}