In support of Usman Khawaja, Cricket Australia CEO Todd Greenberg has said it is “drawing a long bow” to imply that his choice to play golf before the Test match affected the back spasms he experienced on the first day in Perth.
After experiencing back spasms that prompted him to leave the pitch late in England’s brief first innings on Friday, Khawaja, 38, has come under fire. Since England fell while he was stretching to recover from the spasm, his absence was ill-timed, and stand-in skipper Steven Smith had to call for Khawaja to return to the pitch.
In the end, Khawaja did come back to the field for the rest of the innings, but he was not allowed to start the batting since he had not returned for the same period of time as he had been out, per ICC procedures. As a result, Smith batted at number three and Marnus Labuschagne was compelled to open. After batting at number four, Khawaja got out for just two runs.
On day two, before lunch, Khawaja fielded for all 15 overs that Australia bowled and appeared unfazed.
He has not experienced this injury until Friday, CA emphasised. After Australia’s training sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday, Khawaja had played golf. He chose to play golf with Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland instead of participating in Thursday’s optional session, which only saw four members of Australia’s XI train. In addition, a number of Australia’s coaching staff performed in the afternoon following the main session.
According to Greenberg, who is a passionate golfer himself and was seated with professional golfer Min Woo Lee, who was born in Perth, at Perth Stadium on Friday, Khawaja’s back problem has nothing to do with his game.
He has been well-served by [golf] in the past two years. Many of them often play golf the day before, Greenberg told SEN. Did that have anything to do with the problems? Personally, I disagree.
“Usman has a great deal of experience; he is aware of his body and how to prepare for cricket. That seems like a long bow to me. Cricket is frequently referred to as being played between the ears.
Taking a break from training or staying in your hotel is crucial, in my opinion. I saw that he played golf with Mitch Starc, so it didn’t affect his performance at all.
Both Australia’s team culture and those of their rivals, England, heavily rely on golf. Both domestically and overseas, they play frequently before Test matches. Before the WTC final, which they lost to South Africa, the whole team went to northern Scotland for a week of golf to strengthen their bonds as a team.
For many years, CA’s medical and strength and conditioning team has approved it, particularly for fast bowlers, as a low-impact foot workout that also offers a mental break from the demanding nature of cricket practice and competition.
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