A Test of Time

Has cricket forgotten that a Test match is allotted five days?

Tradition is not high among the things Usman Khawaja has come to represent in Australian Test cricket. A human rights advocate, an alternate voice and a pin up boy for a game which craves diversity, the quietly spoken opener is an unlikely champion of the old school.

Khawaja, as he does, bided his time during the debate about who he should open the batting now that David Warner is gone and Steve Smith not as keen, but talk that there was a need for a new partner who will move the game on clearly irritates him.

"I don't know where this myth started that you need someone to score really fast to do well," Khawaja said last week. "You've got five days to do it...I don't know why you need to score fast.

"Opening's as much about scoring runs as it is about being able to absorb. Davey was special; he could score runs while absorbing but he didn't do it (score fast) every time. He was consistent; out there and setting a platform, and Nathan (McSweeney) does that very well."

Khawaja moves slowly, but knows the game is patient. Let others run up the hill, he’ll get there in his own time. His late career success as an opener is tribute to his steady approach. Anyone hoping to get a like-for-like replacement for David Warner is fooling themselves. Anyone believing that is what is needed to win in the new era is a fool.