 "Australian opener Usman Khawaja and English pacer Mark Wood will be sitting out of the second Ashes Test in Brisbane after being included for the series opener in Perth. Reuters")
Australia opening batsman Usman Khawaja was on Tuesday ruled out of the second Ashes Test against England with the back injury he suffered during the Perth opener.
The veteran had back spasms and failed to open in the first Test victory.
He was replaced for the second innings by Travis Head, who blasted a match-winning century.
It leaves Khawaja’s international future in doubt. He turns 39 later this month and has been under pressure after a lean run of form with the bat.
“Khawaja will remain with the team to continue his rehabilitation. He has not been replaced in the squad,” said Cricket Australia ahead of Thursday’s day-night encounter at Brisbane’s Gabba.
Khawaja batted for 30 minutes in the practice nets on Tuesday evening but the left-hander appeared to be in discomfort.
Head will be favourite to be deployed as makeshift opener in Khawaja’s absence.
He opens in white-ball cricket and said he would be happy to face the Test new ball again after his whirlwind 123 off 83 balls at Perth took Australia to an eight-wicket victory.
If Head does move up, seaming all-rounder Beau Webster is likely to come in at number six, with Cameron Green occupying Head’s usual fifth slot in the batting order.
Paceman Scott Boland had sympathy for Khawaja.
“It’s hard because he’s put in a lot of work since the last game just trying to get his body right but he hasn’t come up, unfortunately,” Boland told reporters.
“I thought he looked pretty good in the nets, but he must have thought in himself that he wasn’t ready to go.”
England-born Josh Inglis is another in the mix to come in, and Boland said: “I think the best thing about our team over the last few years is when someone has come out, either due to form or an injury, someone’s always stood up and done their job.”
England bring Jacks in place of Wood in quest to level series at Gabba
Off-spinner Will Jacks, meanwhile, has replaced the injured Mark Wood in the England side for the day-night Test against Australia in Brisbane that starts Thursday.
Jacks will play his first Test for three years in the only change as England dispensed with the all-pace attack used in the first Test defeat in Perth.
The 27-year-old got the nod ahead of Shoaib Bashir for the pink-ball match to add more depth to the England batting.
All-rounder Jacks has played in two previous Tests and claimed a five-wicket haul on debut against Pakistan in 2022.
He has mainly been used by England in white-ball cricket.
“Everyone knows what a brilliant cricketer he is,” England batsman and Jacks’ Surrey team-mate Ollie Pope told reporters.
“The way he’s grown over the last few years, we’ve seen his white-ball game really go forward. It’s a great opportunity for his red-ball, too.
“He’s obviously got that style of spin bowling where he can get some bounce and turn off the pitch, then everyone has seen the skills he’s got in the white-ball format.
“He can take on a really good attack.”
Head’s whirlwind century carried Australia to an eight-wicket victory inside two days in Perth as they went 1-0 up in the series.
Pope, batting at three, scored 46 and 33 and said he was “pretty annoyed” with both of his dismissals.
“At the same time, I was happy with how I was playing up until the moment I got out,” he added.
“If I can start my innings like that as much as I can while I’m out here, hopefully some big runs will flow.”
He added of England’s poor batting in Perth, where they were out for 172 and 164: “There’s a few lessons there, I guess, individuals would take from last week and then put them into practice this week.”
Pope was quizzed about news photos of teammates Ben Stokes, Jamie Smith and Wood riding electric scooters in Brisbane without helmets, which are a legal requirement.
“Just put a helmet on next time, I guess,” he said.
Queensland’s police service said it was aware of images being circulated of “persons” riding e-scooters without helmets.
“Officers have since engaged with those persons to inform and educate them on compliance requirements associated with E-mobility devices in Queensland,” a spokesperson said.
England XI for the 2nd Ashes Test: Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Jamie Smith, Will Jacks, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer.