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📻 IMPORTANT AUCKLAND UPDATE 📻
'Be patient': Khawaja's transition message to selectors
Scott Bailey, AAP • January 3rd, 2026 8:20 am
Usman Khawaja has urged selectors to be patient with new faces in the Australia set-up | Photo: Dan Himbrechts/AAP
Usman Khawaja has urged Australia's selectors to be patient as they manage the transition of the Test team, warning experienced players cannot be easily replaced.
Khawaja's SCG retirement will prompt the next step in the side's regeneration, as he follows David Warner from two seasons ago as the second player out the door.
Of all voices, Khawaja is among the most qualified to speak on the challenges of finding success in a team in transition.
Usman Khawaja found it tough when he made his Test debut during the Ashes defeat of 2010-11 | Photo: Paul Miller/AAP
His own debut came during Australia's worst home summer this century, with the 3-1 Ashes defeat in 2010-11 prompting Cricket Australia's wide-spreading Argus Review.
In Khawaja's first Test alone, as Michael Clarke took over as captain and Steve Smith batted at No.8, he became the first man to debut at No. 3 in 17 years.
Australia were in the midst of a period when they cycled through 15 debutants in the space of two years, with seven of those handed less than five Tests.
Khawaja himself was initially caught in that washing machine, dropped three Tests into his career.
Cameron Green remains the only player under 30 to feature for Australia this summer, but a host of experienced stars remain every chance of playing until at least the 2027 Ashes.
"I came through a period where I was in a transition in 2010. We were a struggling Australian cricket team. We lost a lot of the greats," Khawaja said.
"Eventually, Smudge (Steve Smith) is going to go. Starcy (Mitchell Starc) is going to go. Patty (Pat Cummins) can't play. There's going to be a transition happening very soon.
Glenn McGrath on Usman Khawaja's International Retirement | SEN Cricket
"It'll be interesting to see how it plays out, but it's never easy. So I think you just need to be mindful about moving forward and understanding that.
"Australia will always find our feet. Our Sheffield Shield system, it's very strong. With batting and bowling, it will always produce good cricketers.
"It's just about giving them enough time with Test cricket to be able to do that.
"You just have to be a little bit patient."
Khawaja said that theory had to now be applied to rookie opener Jake Weatherald, whose 72 in his second Test in Brisbane was his only score above 25 this summer.
But Khawaja said it was too soon to assess whether Weatherald and Travis Head would work as long-term openers, labelling the job a long-term grind.
The 39-year-old pointed to how four years as an opener had mentally worn him down, never able to relax on morning one of a Test or when the opposition's lower order was batting late in the day.
"The hardest thing about opening is not opening for a few games, it's opening for a year or two," he said.
Usman Khawaja and Travis Head posing for a team photo at the SCG | Photo: Dan Himbrechts/AAP
"Because the grind doesn't take immediate effect. It's cumulative.
"I would never judge an opener purely based on a few games. Even right now, whether it's Jake or Heady.
"You judge him over a year or two, because that's when you really see whether these guys are fit for opening.
"It's the mental disintegration that happens over a long period of time, which makes it really tough.
"There's been outliers like Haydos (Matthew Hayden) or (Virender) Sehwag.
"But there's a reason why the majority of the best openers average somewhere between 40 and 45."
Tune into Sport Nation for live ball-by-ball commentary of The Ashes series - the fifth Test begins January 4 - thanks to SEN.
Adam Collins on how he'll remember Usman Khawaja as a Cricketer | SEN Cricket
