Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/b><\/a><\/p>\nBut speaking on Fox Cricket, Hussey believes Khawaja has done enough to fight for his spot.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d bring him straight back in and I\u2019d move Travis Head back down to number five,\u201d Hussey said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just think Usman Khawaja\u2019s basically had one innings here in Perth with back spasms. Coming into the series, Usman Khawaja was our number one guy opening the batting \u2013 we weren\u2019t sure who the other guy would be!<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s changed after one innings?<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s recovered from his back injury now. Get him back in there at the top of the order.\u201d<\/p>\n
With Head returning to his spot in the middle order, Hussey believes that\u2019s where he can be damaging against England who are on the ropes heading to Adelaide down 2-0 in the series.<\/p>\n
\u201cGet Travis Head back down to number five,\u201d Hussey said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know Travis Head played an amazing innings here (as opener in Perth in the First Test) \u2013 but I just like him at number five.<\/p>\n
Khawaja ‘100%’ for third Ashes test | 03:14<\/p>\n
\u201cOpening the batting consistently at Test cricket is difficult, very difficult. I just feel like Travis Head can be more consistent in the middle order.\u201d<\/p>\n
Should Khawaja return to the team, that would leave Josh Inglis as the man to make way Hussey believes.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately for him, (Inglis) makes way,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a tough call \u2013 he looked pretty good up at the Gabba as well but didn\u2019t get a massive score. He was sort of the back up batter as it was.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fellow Aussie great Adam Gilchrist agreed Inglis would be the man to go should Khawaja get the nod.<\/p>\n
Head looking to ton up on home ground | 04:37<\/p>\n
\u201cI think they will do that (drop Inglis and bring back Khawaja),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the brains trust will say that\u2019s the percentage play \u2013 get Usman\u2019s experience there, go back to a more traditional opening method.<\/p>\n
\u201cTravis Head can then come into the middle order and really make some strong contributions and maybe still up the tempo if he needs to in that middle order.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Usman will be at the top.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would be a tough call to say picking Usman here in that First Test match and saying \u2018you\u2019re our trump, you\u2019re experienced, that\u2019s who we build our order around with a debutant in the form of (Jake) Weatherald\u2019, it\u2019s a tough call to then say because of injury that\u2019s the end of your career effectively.\u201d<\/p>\n
Head: Does Khawaja deserve to open? | 04:51<\/p>\n
Hussey feared too many \u201cjumped the gun\u201d to decide Head was the man to open for Australia in the future.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a phenomenal innings from Travis Head \u2026 Sometimes you have one of those days. Everything just goes perfect \u2013 that was one of those days (in Perth),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cGame after game after game, if you keep stacking it up it\u2019s not that easy to be that consistent or that dynamic at the top of the order in Test match cricket.<\/p>\n
\u201cKhawaja has done it for a long period of time. He\u2019s got a lot of experience opening the batting.<\/p>\n
\u201cTravis Head coming in the middle order in Adelaide \u2026 a tiring attack \u2026 he can be just as devastating if not more devastating for Australia through there.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Third Ashes Test will begin in Adelaide on Wednesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Aussie Test star Mike Hussey believes Usman Khawaja should be recalled as opener for the Third Ashes…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":633863,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4101],"tags":[38809,71788,88612,155853,186,22631,195773,195772,195777,22422,195778,195774,1406,393,195779,299,195771,88620,183963,183976,17670,22617,568,13691,195770,135697,195776,18855,79,172982,195769,195775,11438,16,15,85691,569],"class_list":{"0":"post-633862","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cricket","8":"tag-adam-gilchrist","9":"tag-adelaide","10":"tag-andrew-mcdonald","11":"tag-ashes-test","12":"tag-australia","13":"tag-australia-and-new-zealand","14":"tag-australian-coach-andrew","15":"tag-back-spasms","16":"tag-brains-trust","17":"tag-brisbane","18":"tag-catherine-healey","19":"tag-coach-andrew-mcdonald","20":"tag-cricket","21":"tag-england","22":"tag-england-clash","23":"tag-europe","24":"tag-home-groundcricket","25":"tag-josh-inglis","26":"tag-mike-hussey","27":"tag-nets-session","28":"tag-northern-europe","29":"tag-oceania","30":"tag-perth","31":"tag-queensland","32":"tag-ropes-heading","33":"tag-security-staff","34":"tag-selection-dilemma","35":"tag-south-australia","36":"tag-sports","37":"tag-the-gabba","38":"tag-tough-call","39":"tag-traditional-opening-method","40":"tag-travis-head","41":"tag-uk","42":"tag-united-kingdom","43":"tag-usman-khawaja","44":"tag-western-australia"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=633862"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633862\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/633863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=633862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=633862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=633862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/poster-fallback.png\"\/)
<\/p>\n