Australia great Tom Moody was left furious after Usman Khawaja was barred from opening the batting because of a toilet break on a pulsating first day of the Ashes.
England chose to bat first, but Australia made a blistering start to the series, with Mitchell Starc ripping through the lineup for a career-best 7 for 58. England were bowled out for just 172 at Perth Stadium – and even Khawaja appeared caught off guard by Starc’s rapid demolition job.
Khawaja had left the field late in England’s innings, and Cricket Australia initially attributed his absence to ‘toilet breaks and stretching’. However, it later emerged that he had been dealing with back stiffness, leading to a significant delay before he could return to the field.
The opener was then deemed ineligible to come out to bat after Mitchell Starc had picked off the final England wicket, with cameras showing stand-in captain Steve Smith animatedly appealing the decision.
And 60-year-old Australian legend Moody took aim at the team for the blunder, saying: ‘Poor management… Beyond a joke… like Starc led the attack we needed Uzzie (Khawaja) to lead the batting.’
Khawaja came off the field at the end of the 29th over of England’s innings and returned during the 33rd over, spending a total of 19 minutes off the field – a period where England lost three wickets.
Cricket Australia reportedly said Khawaja’s absence was down to ‘toilet breaks and stretching’, although it later emerged his lengthy delayed was caused by ‘back stiffness’
Stand-in captain Steve Smith appealed the decision to bar the opener from taking the field
And the laws of cricket state that if a player is off the field for longer than eight minutes, they are not allowed to bowl or bat until they have fielded for that same length of time.
After Khawaja returned for Starc to take the final two wickets to finish the first innings, he had only been back on the field for seven minutes.
The law meant Test debutant Jake Weatherald was forced to take the first ball of the innings, with Marnus Labuschagne – who was listed to come in at number three – alongside him.
Things went from bad to worse for Australia, as Weatherald fell for a second-ball duck – and Khawaja was still unable to come to the crease due to the time restrictions, leaving Smith to come out at third.
When Khawaja did eventually appear, his former opening partner David Warner was unconvinced by his fitness.
‘He just seems a bit stiff,’ Warner said. ‘He just doesn’t look like the normal Usman Khawaja walking to the crease there.
‘I sense a little bit of discomfort there. I don’t know whether it is his back or what, but that is not the normal approach when he walks out to bat.’
Indeed, Khawaja didn’t last long once he did get his chance – making just two runs from six balls before Jamie Smith caught Brydon Carse’s delivery, leaving Australia reeling at 31 for 4.
Weatherald was dismissed by Jofra Archer for a duck after being forced to take the first ball
Indeed, Khawaja didn’t last long once he did get his chance – making just two runs from six balls before Jamie Smith caught Brydon Carse’s delivery, leaving Australia reeling at 31 for 4.
And Moody wasn’t the only spectator to express their dismay at the chaos caused to Australia’s carefully-planned batting order.
‘It’s pretty hard to understand how Australia can put so much effort into getting this batting lineup right (and have this blunder),’ Australian cricket commentator Peter Lalor said on Channel 7.
‘Beau Webster has missed out so they can get an established opener up there, get their order in line. And then comes time to open Usman Khawaja can’t do it and it’s a lack of game awareness.
‘Late in that innings, we saw Steve Smith gesturing towards that dressing room saying “Where is he? He’s got to get out on the field”.
‘Now, we’re told he had lower back stiffness, that in itself is a worry in the first day of a test match but it’s the game awareness that’s a real concern.’
Ricky Ponting added: ‘They took 5-12, didn’t they, in a short period of time and they’ve obviously been caught off-guard which is the last thing that Marnus wanted, the last thing that Jake wanted.
‘Jake Weatherald would have forging a relationship with Usman all week to build up and face his first ball in Test cricket. That was all taken away, so hopefully by the end of the day or tomorrow morning, we get the true story of about what actually happened with Khawaja.’
