Cliff Notes – “It’ll probably improve his performance” – Labuschagne backs Khawaja to fire in final
- Marnus Labuschagne has confirmed Usman Khawaja will play in the Sheffield Shield final, asserting that recent controversies will not distract him but may enhance his performance.
- Khawaja faced criticism for missing a match due to alleged injury issues, which he vehemently denied, expressing disappointment over the accusations.
- Queensland will need to adjust their lineup to accommodate Khawaja’s return, with Labuschagne optimistic about their chances despite recent challenges in taking wickets.
‘It’ll probably improve his performance’ – Labuschagne backs Khawaja to fire in final
Captain Marnus Labuschagne has confirmed that Usman Khawaja will play for Queensland in the Sheffield Shield final and believes last week’s public spat will high performance manager Joe Dawes will “improve his performance” rather than distract him.
Khawaja, 38, has been the subject of an unusual media drama in the lead-up to the final after missing the last match of the regular season against South Australia at Karen Rolton Oval.
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Dawes spoke last Wednesday claiming Khawaja did not have any hamstring issues that they were aware of and said, “it’s just disappointing he didn’t play a game for Queensland when he had an opportunity to.”
Queensland Cricket board member Ian Healy had also made strong comments on his SEN radio show saying, “It’s just this pick and choose mentality that has been evident in his later years that Queensland haven’t been happy with.”
Khawaja fired back in an emotional and lengthy press conference, saying the accusations of him not having an injury were “categorically untrue” and that he was disappointed and disheartened by claims that he didn’t want to play for Queensland despite spending five days in Melbourne at the Australian Formula One Grand Prix while the Shield game was going on.
Labuschagne confirmed that Khawaja would definitely play in the final at Karen Rolton Oval on Wednesday and was confident that Australia’s Test opener wouldn’t be distracted after a turbulent week.
“No, not at all,” Labuschagne said at the captains’ pre-game press conference. “If anything, it’ll probably improve his performance. He just loves the big moments. He’s been an amazing player for a long time, so I don’t think he’s going to have any issues with going out there and performing at his best.”
Queensland captain Marnus Labuschagne and South Australia captain Nathan McSweeney pose with the Sheffield Shield trophy Getty Images
South Australia captain Nathan McSweeney, who was Khawaja’s opening partner for the first three Tests of the Border-Gavaskar series and is a former Queensland team-mate, said he had spoken to Khawaja in the lead-up to the final and expected him to perform well.
“He wanted to see if he could get a tee time at Kooyonga,” McSweeney said. “So I did send him a cheeky text. But he’s all good. “He’s a professional player, has been for a long time now, and I think he’ll be definitely ready here tomorrow, and he’ll be a massive wicket for us.”
Queensland’s staff put together a video of former Shield winning players sending their well wishes to the current team, which the squad watched on the big screen at Karen Rolton Oval before training on Tuesday.
Labuschagne would not confirm Queensland’s final XI, but they will need to make at least one change from the side that drew with South Australia to accommodate Khawaja’s return. The concern for Queensland will be trying to take 20 wickets after claiming just 12 in four days last week, with Labuschagne taking four of them with his part-time medium pace.
“The wicket is probably not as hard as it was for last week’s game here,” he said. “I think there’s probably a little bit more moisture in it. The grass is probably a fraction longer. But obviously [curator] Trent [Kelly] hasn’t cut it yet, so we’ll have to wait and see whether that gets cut in the morning.
“I think, all in all, last week would have been a really good cricket wicket for a five-day game. South Australia had us in a position where if they really wanted to try and win the game, they probably could have pushed down that route.
“Even last week, on that wicket that was quite flat, there could have been a result. So I don’t think there’s going to be any problem with trying to get a result this game.”
South Australia squad:
Nathan McSweeney (capt), Jordan Buckingham, Alex Carey, Brendan Doggett, Henry Hunt, Jake Lehmann, Ben Manenti, Nathan McAndrew, Conor McInerney, Harry Nielsen, Lloyd Pope, Jason Sangha, Liam Scott, Henry Thornton
Queensland squad:
Marnus Labuschagne (capt), Jack Clayton, Lachlan Hearne, Usman Khawaja, Angus Lovell, Ben McDermott, Michael Neser, Jimmy Peirson, Matthew Renshaw, Mark Steketee, Tom Straker, Mitchell Swepson, Callum Vidler, Jack Wildermuth