Australia need to replace Usman Khawaja in their XI for the second Ashes Test in Brisbane – what are their options?
The long-time opener has been ruled out of the day-night match after failing to recover from back spasms which troubled him in the series opener. He was in visible discomfort while he batted in Australia's practice session on Tuesday (December 2), and was subsequently ruled out of the Brisbane Test which starts on Thursday (December 4). Australia have named no replacement for him in their squad.
Option One: Travis Head
The most likely replacement for Khawaja is Travis Head, who filled in when he was ineligible to bat in the second innings in Perth. His brutal century ensured England slipped to an eight-wicket defeat and went 1-0 down in the series. Keeping Head at the top mirrors England's own brash approach at the top of the order, and against their battery of quicks it was Head who found the best way of hitting them off their lengths.
Head has been Australia's powerhouse in the middle order for the last four years, but averages 55.5 as a Test opener. Australia have also fudged their batting order to make up the numbers at the top previously. Marnus Labuschagne, and Steve Smith as well as Head, have both been used as openers in the search for David Warner's long-term replacement, with Beau Webster or Josh Inglis ready to come into the middle. Speaking last week, Head said: "I'm happy [to open]. If that's what is needed to win a Test match and if that's what's required then, yeah, I'm fine with it... I think you could use this order and these players in a range of different ways and whatever ways that is to win games of cricket."
Option Two: Inglis in at the top
Australia haven't named a replacement for Khawaja in their squad, leaving Josh Inglis as the only spare specialist batter. Inglis scored a Test century on debut in Galle, but his only Test appearance since that series came in Bridgetown earlier this year when he stood in for an injured Steve Smith. Nevertheless, Inglis hammered a century as an opener as part of a Cricket Australia XI which faced England Lions last week, finishing unbeaten on 125 off 107 balls. Inglis has never opened in a Test match for Australia, and bats in the middle order for Western Australia when keeping wicket. Regardless of where he bats, Inglis an option to play in the Brisbane Test, selected as a versatile batter to come into the top seven wherever required.
Option Three: Labuschagne moves up one
There was speculation before the first Test that Labuschagne would partner Khawaja at the top of the order. He was carded to come out at three but ended up walking out alongside Jake Weatherald in the first innings after Khawaja had been off the field too long to start proceedings. The Perth Test marked Labuschagne's return to the Test side after he was dropped for their previous series in West Indies, with a blistering run in state cricket enough to earn him a recall. While he was troubled by England's pacers in the first innings, he finished the game with an unbeaten half-century in the second.
However, Labuschagne firmly pushed back against the idea that he could move up to open. “I think we can pretty much be assured that Steve and I won’t open,” he told reporters in Brisbane yesterday (December 1).
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