Australia coach Andrew McDonald has hinted that Usman Khawaja could feature as a middle-order batter, while confirming Josh Hazlewood will miss the remainder of the series.
Australia are 2-0 up in the Ashes after convincing victories in Perth and Brisbane, with the third Test in Adelaide getting underway on December 17th.
Khawaja missed the second Test, the pink-ball match at the Gabba, due to back spasms he suffered in the series opener.
Travis Head was promoted to the opening role, where he scored a century in the Perth Test before also showing promising signs last time out alongside Jake Weatherald.
McDonald revealed that Australia are yet to pick their squad for the third Test, but insisted that Khawaja will not just be considered as an opening
batter.
"At our strategy meetings, we'll continue to ask questions on what the best line-up is for that point in time. And we're taking this Test by Test," said McDonald.
"The assumption is that Uzzie [Khawaja] can only open as well. So I think that he does have the flexibility.
"And we like to think that all our batters have the flexibility to be able to perform anywhere in that order. So we've got a collective sort of group of batters there that as a series wears on, the opposition may create some different challenges for us.
"We're open to what it will look like for us moving forward. "
Usman Khawaja is back in the mix for the Adelaide Test, but he's not necessarily locked in to open #Ashes.https://t.co/eJhPNDY7JS
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 9, 2025
Hazlewood, meanwhile, will miss the remainder of the series after suffering an Achilles injury.
He missed the opening two Tests as he recovered from a hamstring strain, but another setback will mean he plays no part in the Ashes this time around.
Although Australia will be boosted by the return of captain Pat Cummins, McDonald believes Hazlewood will now need to focus on recovering for the T20 World Cup.
"Unfortunately, Josh won't be a part of the Ashes," McDonald added. "Really, really flat for him.
"A couple of setbacks that we didn't see coming, and we thought he would play a huge part in the series.
"It's a totally separate injury. It's somewhere lower in the calf to Achilles region.
"His preparation will then shift towards the World Cup, which is an incredibly important campaign for us. "
