Australia cricket chief clarifies speculation of Usman Khawaja’s back stiffness due to playing golf

"I noticed Mitch Starc played golf with him, so it certainly didn't impact his performance," said Greenberg

Usman Khawaja in action. (AP photo)

Australian veteran opener Usman Khawaja could not open yesterday in the first Ashes Test. He left the field for eight minutes due to back stiffness, which meant that the 38-year-old could only open after eight minutes have elapsed in the second innings as a result, Australia had to send Marnus Labuschange as the opener instead of Usman Khawaja. As debutant Jake Weatherald was dismissed for a duck in the first over, skipper Steve Smith had to come in at number four.

It was later come to known that Khawaja had played golf ahead of the Test match during an optional training session. However, CA clarified that the back spasms are a type of injury that Khawaja did have before, and it had nothing to do with golf.

“Did that correlate to any of the issues? I personally don’t think so. Usman’s a very seasoned campaigner, he knows his body well, and he knows how to get himself prepared for cricket. So I think that is drawing a long bow. A lot of people talk about cricket being played between the ears.”

“So getting some time away from being in your hotel or at training I think is really important. I noticed Mitch Starc played golf with him, so it certainly didn’t impact his performance,” said Cricket Australia Chief Todd Greenberg on SEN Radio on Saturday. Starc has picked up seven wickets in the first game of the Test.

Greenberg also stressed the fact that players are judged on the basis of their performances from the five games, and each individual in that team has the freedom to prepare themselves.

“That’s exactly how Andrew McDonald and the team have functioned over a long period of time and they’ve been very successful on that. The individual performance inside a team environment, and then ultimately you’re held accountable for your performance. That’s mature and that’s the current approach,” he added.

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