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"Major Fallout": Inside the ongoing Khawaja v Bulls feud
SEN • March 24th, 2025 4:01 pm
Robert Craddock has provided an inside look at Usman Khawaja’s controversial absence from Queensland’s Sheffield Shield contest with South Australia.
The Australian opener has endured a severe falling out with Queensland cricket after being seen at the Formula One Melbourne Grand Prix despite reportedly being available for selection.
In an anticipated presser, the 38-year-old claimed to have set out a plan with physiotherapists and medical staff regarding a hamstring injury that would keep him out of the contest, while Queensland’s head of cricket Joe Dawes suggested that no such records existed, and the medical team provided a green light for Khawaja to play.
Craddock, who broke the story as it happened, believes that Khawaja’s appearance at the Formula One was a step too far.
“I think had he gone home to Queensland and rehabilitated the injury he’d probably (be okay),” Craddock told SEN’s Whateley.
“When you're spotted at the Grand Prix, it never looks good.
“This is a major fallout, during that press conference his eyes were moistening, and his voice was starting to quiver, he was very emotional.
“He and Joe Dawes have really, truly fallen out. They haven’t spoken for about a month.
“Joe’s a former fast bowler, a former police officer and a former colleague of Peter Dutton. He is hard-nosed, he is direct, and it takes no imagination at all to see how he and Usman could fall out.
“If I was Usman, I would have played that last game because it just was not worth the aggravation and going to the Grand Prix was just a step too far.
“It makes you think, what is the Shield?
“We’ve got players flying off to the IPL like Travis Head, I think Steve Smith was in America when New South Wales played their last game. Players are rested on whims now from the Shield, it’s not even promoted.
“If you want to denigrate a competition to that degree, don’t then hold it up as a sacred ruby.
“If you’ve got players missing games on whims, don’t you dare pound the pulpit about your rights to play at the Adelaide Oval.”
Khawaja is expected to be selected for the much anticipated Shield final against South Australia this week.
