Australia have explained Usman Khawaja’s absence from the field during England’s innings as due to “back spasms”.
Khawaja was not allowed to open the batting alongside Test debutant Jake Weatherald in Australia’s Ashes opener in Perth on Friday because he had spent too much time off the field during England’s innings.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Peter Lalor provides explanation for Usman Khawaja absence.
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It meant Marnus Labuschagne, on return to the Test team after being dropped for the West Indies series earlier this year, had to move up the order to open the batting.
Naturally then, as the only specialist opener in the pairing, Weatherland faced the first ball of the innings from Jofra Archer, who took just two deliveries to claim his wicket with a thunderbolt that crashed into the Tasmanian’s front pad.
Regular No.4 Steve Smith then had to promote himself to No.3 and face the third ball of the innings because Khawaja still hadn’t served enough time to be allowed back into the game.
It was a rattling start to Australia’s innings, which eventually capitulated to finish the day at 9-123, with 19 wickets falling on Day 1 after England been bowled out for a sub-par 172.
“A lot of confusion. Australia had the upper hand at the end of that innings, thanks to Mitchell Starc’s brilliant bowling, seven wickets,” Peter Lalor told Channel 7 after the day’s play.
“That momentum was lost the moment they couldn’t find Usman Khawaja when it came (time) to bat.
“This was a really curious incident, you don’t see this very often. It happened once to David Warner when Faf du Plessis pulled a swifty on him when he was in the toilet.
“But in this case, Usman had been off for a lot of the day and we weren’t really clear why he was off.
“We now have some agreed facts on this that have come out of the dressing room.”
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In a statement, the team explanied: “Usman battled back stiffness through the day, he had a back spasm the second time he left the field.
“He was stretching to overcome the spasm.
“Unfortunate timing due to the manner of how the innings ended.
“He did not have an injury prior to today.”
Lalor added: “He must have been pretty bad, because we saw Steve Smith come down at the fall of the seventh wicket and he was gesturing frantically to the dressing room because Steve Smith is a guy who’s across everything in the game.”
After Mitchell Starc’s 7-58 dismantled England for 172 in only 33 overs, Australia still trail by 49 runs after being rocked by express quick Archer and captain Ben Stokes.
Only Nathan Lyon and debutant Brendan Doggett remain in England’s way of a handy first innings lead.
Archer (2-11) consistently pushed 150kms/h, rattling Australia’s brittle top order in similar fashion to the 2019 Ashes.
His flawless seven overs swung momentum back towards the tourists in a way English teams haven’t done in Australia during the last 15 years.
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Stokes then ripped through the middle and lower orders in a stunning spell late in the day for the sixth five-wicket haul of his Test career.
Archer steamed in to dismiss Weatherald for a second-ball duck, Australia’s debutant opener falling over to be trapped LBW.
Smith (17) then had to bat at No.3, with Weatherald’s instant dismissal meaning regular opener Khawaja (two) had to wait to come in at No.4.
Australia’s innings capitulated from there, losing 3-13 in 18 balls to fall to 4-31.
Cameron Green (24) and Travis Head (21) briefly steadied the hosts, before England captain Ben Stokes (5-23) claimed them both, as well as Starc, late in the day.
England took confidence out of last year’s Perth Test when India made just 150 on day one, before rattling Australia before stumps to go on and comfortably win the match.
Bazball’s debut innings in Australia was an abject failure, the big hitting no match for Starc’s lethal pace and movement as he starred in the absence of Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood.
England continued to attack and play aggressive shots, even as wickets regularly tumbled and Starc was bowling superbly.
The tourists collapsed twice in their innings — first to 3-39, then lost 5-17 in 18 balls to finish.
England’s aggressive No.5 Harry Brook looked threatening, hitting an out-of-sorts Scott Boland all around Perth Stadium.
But Brook (52) fell to debutant Brendan Doggett (2-27), who claimed his first Test wicket after Australia reviewed an Alex Carey catch given not out.
Before the TV umpire could even adjudicate, Brook was walking off the ground because the ball touched his glove.
For the second-straight time, Starc made a famous start to an Ashes series, striking in the first over to send England into a familiar spin.
Four years after his iconic first-ball dismissal of Rory Burns at the Gabba, Australia’s left-arm spearhead finished the opening over of this series with the wicket of Zak Crawley (zero).
Starc wasn’t done there, claiming Crawley’s opening partner Ben Duckett (21), and most importantly, star batter Joe Root (0) before drinks.
A Perth record crowd of 43,591 – later getting up to 51,531 — was already in the stadium to see Starc claim a wicket in the first over of a Test for the 24th time.
His figures surpassed his previous best of 6-9, which came in the last Test he played back in July against West Indies.
Doggett and Weatherald are on international debut, making it the first time Australia have blooded two debutants in the same Test since January 2019.
– With AAP
