Former Australian captain Michael Clarke has urged veteran batter Usman Khawaja to consider retirement before the fifth Ashes Test, saying he has the perfect opportunity to walk away with his head held
high. Khawaja recently crossed the milestone of 8,000 international runs during the fourth Ashes Test.
The 39-year-old has struggled for consistency in the series, with scores of 2, 82, 40, 29, and 0. Injuries have also hampered his performance, forcing the Australian team to make several adjustments to the batting lineup throughout the Ashes.
"I think this will be Usman's farewell Test match. I don't think it's a token selection; they obviously picked him for Melbourne, so if they've gone that way, you pick him for Sydney as well. But I think he'll retire after this Test match. Australia will win the series. Hopefully, he goes out with a big score. I'd love to see Uz make a hundred at the SCG and walk away on a high because not many people get that opportunity,” Clarke told Code Sports.
Meanwhile, former Australian cricketer Matthew Hayden slammed Australia’s top order, describing their scorecard as unacceptable and criticising Marnus Labuschagne, Khawaja, and Cameron Green for struggling with basic batting techniques. His remarks came after Australia suffered a heavy defeat to England in the fourth Ashes Test.
The match concluded in just two days, with Australia bowled out for 152 and 132 in the first and second innings, respectively. No Australian batter managed to reach a half-century. Seamer Michael Neser top-scored in the first innings, while Travis Head scored the most runs in the second innings.
"That's an unacceptable scorecard. I don't care if it was 50 millimetres of grass. You need to be better than that. Head, Weatherald, Labuschagne, Khawaja, Carey, Green - they're all at sea with their basic techniques. The only technical thing I see is coming from our bowlers, who look more technically sound than our batters. Why is that?," Hayden said on the All Over Bar The Cricket podcast.
