Will, should, Usman Khawaja play in Brisbane?

PL on how Travis Head's knock in Perth has changed the discussion

A message from Dino, who met Travis in Jamaica and is claiming the idea.

It would be brutal, and it would be out of character, but is there a chance selectors will pull the rug from under Usman Khawaja’s career and stick, for the short term at least, with Travis Head as opener?

I know, I know.

It’d be like shooting Bambi, but this is the Ashes, not some fairytale.

Still, I’d have to look away.

In a perfect world, Khawaja, whom I respect immensely as a player and a person, would finish up in front of his ‘home’ crowd in Sydney. The Pakistan-born, Sydney-raised cricketer has called Brisbane home since leaving the NSW set-up in 2012-13.

Khawaja returned to the side for the Test team, posted a pair of centuries against England in 2022 and has been a cornerstone of the batting since, scoring more runs than any other Australian batter.

Returns, however, have dropped off in recent times.

Khawaja is the oldest opener since Adam was in the XI for the game at Eden Gardens and could not take his place at the top of the order in either innings because of back spasms.

Travis Head broke the game open and possibly broke the mould as his replacement in the second innings at Perth. What is it they say about never taking a holiday?

It would be a brutal decision.

The selectors, despite much criticism, afforded David Warner the right to end his career on his own terms, but it could be argued that there was nobody demanding his place at the top of the order. A fact which has been proven by the difficulty Australia has had in replacing him since.

There was already consideration of bringing in Mitch Marsh as an opener if things didn’t go to plan, but who needs Mitch when you’ve got Trav?

Ricky Ponting was not dismissing the notion when filling in the vacuum left by England’s spectacular implosion on day two of the first Test at Perth Stadium on what should have been day four:

“I think all of the Australian public would like to see it. What we saw yesterday was remarkable Test Match cricket. I thought what we saw was a much talked about England fast bowling attack that they have been building for two years to come and dominate in Australia, just get completely dismantled by one man. They seemed planless. They seemed clueless. They didn’t know what to do once he got in and going ... I will go back a step further. For the last few years with all the opening partners that Usman has had, it’s always been this chat about trying to find a replacement for Warner, someone who can come out and play aggressively and put the opposition under pressure. You won’t see it executed any better than what we saw yesterday.”