Deft Khawaja keeps a step ahead of the ICC, and the new ball
With a sure eye, soft hands and a deftly angled bat, Usman Khawaja defused a Shaheen Afridi outswinger in the first over of the Boxing Day Test. Deflected safely towards the turf, it slid away to the boundary to raise the first roar from an MCG crowd that peaked at 62,167 spectators.
If thwarted from wearing any of the humanitarian messages or logos he had workshopped over the past two weeks, Khawaja has still managed to balance the roles of opening batter and outspoken campaigner against unnecessary loss of life.
A man apart: Usman Khawaja on Boxing Day.Credit: Getty Images
Khawaja’s innings of 42, affording a platform later utilised by Marnus Labuschagne, was the focus of more observers than it might normally have been. This was due to two weeks’ worth of headlines about his continuing efforts to raise awareness of humanitarian values - something Khawaja took up after being emotionally affected by distressing scenes in Gaza.
First denied a request to wear shoes adorned with the slogans “all lives are equal” and “freedom is a human right” during the Perth Test, Khawaja donned a black armband, for which he was eventually reprimanded by the International Cricket Council.
He then spent several days speaking with the principals of Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers Association. Their goal was to come up with a symbol considered inoffensive enough to pass the ICC’s approval process.
But by the time Khawaja stuck the image of a black dove and olive branch - plus a reference to article one of the universal declaration of human rights - on his bat and right shoe for Australia’s main training session, the submission had already been rejected by Dubai. Why? By mentioning “the Middle East” it was deemed too political, religious or racial in nature.
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Not content to leave his boots blank, Khawaja instead wore the names of his two daughters, Aisha and Ayla, having spoken last week of how the unnecessary deaths of so many children had affected him most deeply. Another application to the ICC seems likely.
And in the stubbornness of his continuing fight to raise humanitarian awareness, Khawaja is well served by the skills he has had to hone over many years facing up to the new ball at home and overseas.
Just like both his innings in Perth during the opening Test of the summer, Khawaja’s Boxing Day performance was that of a high-quality opening batter in challenging conditions, this time after Shan Masood sent Australia in to bat.
Khawaja used all the skills of top-order batsmanship along the way. Delicate hands to let edges scuttle along the ground, late contact with the ball right under his eyes, a commendably straight bat in defence or occasionally attack when Pakistan’s bowlers over-pitched, and opportunism to score off anything a little down the leg side.
Fellow members of the batting engine room like to talk about how edges along the ground between slips and gully are more good judgment than good fortune. With a light grip on the bat and the right angle at the point of contact, it is possible to prevent those edges from flying at catchable height unless they are at the thinnest end of the scale.
After his composed century against England at Edgbaston earlier this year, Khawaja spoke thoughtfully about the battle, over by over, to stay a step ahead of the bowlers and their captain, in that case Ben Stokes.
“My game is changing constantly while I’m out there,” Khawaja said. “I’m looking at fields, changing the way I play, changing my set-up at the crease, it’s never as simple as doing the same thing over and over. The process is simple, because I’m doing it over and over again, but I’m not braindead out there.
“I have to watch what the field is doing, what they might try to do and play accordingly. My brain is always ticking when I’m out there, unless I’m off strike, maybe I switch off for a bit there.”
In terms of his push to spread a humanitarian message, Khawaja needs to be similarly light on his feet. Administrators who disagree with his views, or his right to express them (however mildly), are not unlike seam and swing bowlers probing for an intemperate choice of shot.
Usman Khawaja batting at the MCG on Boxing Day.Credit: Getty
By pivoting from shoe slogans, to the armband, to the dove, to the names of his children, Khawaja has kept trying to remain a step ahead. His critics may not have noticed that it was in becoming comfortable in his own skin, and consequently more outspoken, that Khawaja conjured the best performances of his career.
In 2023, Khawaja has faced more balls in Test cricket than the entire South African team. Unless Travis Head makes a score this week, he will be the only player to have made more than 1000 runs for the year. Only Kane Williamson has more centuries.
Those telling Khawaja to shut up and get on with cricket, then, are a little like the British Olympic authorities who unsuccessfully pressured the Christian missionary and runner Eric Liddell to compete on a Sunday at the 1924 Paris Games.
“The ‘lad’, as you call him, is a true man of principles, and a true athlete,” the Duke of Sutherland says of Liddell during a fictionalised scene of the episode in Chariots of Fire. “His speed is a mere extension of his life, its force. We sought to sever his running from himself.”
Allowed to compete in the 400 metres without running on a Sunday, Liddell won gold. As Australia’s captain, Pat Cummins has preached a similar message in building a team room that affords players the right to express themselves.
Khawaja can no more ignore the principles of his life and faith than he can see off the new ball without respecting its dangers. In Perth and Melbourne, he has fought gamely to do his job with the bat while also pushing a humanitarian cause.
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