- Ian Healy has hit out at the Aussie Test opener
- Khawaja has been caught up in drama over injury
Cricket legend Ian Healy has taken aim at Usman Khawaja and Cricket Australia after the Test opener chose not to play for Queensland in their must-win Sheffield Shield match.
Khawaja is set to return for the Bulls in next week’s Sheffield Shield final against South Australia – but his mysterious absence last weekend has caused some outrage.
The 38-year-old made himself ‘unavailable’ for the match – citing a hamstring injury – at the last minute and instead attended the Formula Grand Prix in Melbourne with his wife Rachel.
Healy, who is the deputy chair of Queensland cricket, is not impressed with the situation nor the veteran’s attitude.
‘What we shouldn’t forget is when Usman makes a team and (is) in a game he is 100 per cent in,’ Healy said on SEN radio.
‘When he gets into the environment he is fine. It’s just this pick and choose mentality that has been evident in his later years that Queensland haven’t been happy with.
Usman Khawaja attended the Formula Grand Prix in Melbourne with his wife Rachel while his Queensland teammates were playing in Adelaide
Ian Healy (pictured) isn’t impressed with Usman Khawaja’s ‘pick and choose mentality’
‘I’m glad I didn’t have my television on (to see him at the F1).
‘Cricket Australia should feel a little under the pump with this… I spoke with them, and they weren’t aware of Queensland’s concerns with him not playing for Queensland, they wish we would have rung them earlier.
‘It was the last round of the Sheffield Shield to get into the final… I wanted Cricket Australia to feel a little bit of heat for allowing that to happen.’
Meanwhile, Queensland Cricket boss Joe Dawes says medical staff had declared Khawaja available for selection.
Dawes insisted Queensland’s medical staff had declared Khawaja available for selection.
‘That is my understanding from Cricket Australia staff as well. No hamstring issues as far as we are concerned,’ Dawes, Queensland Cricket’s head of elite cricket, told reporters at Brisbane Airport on Wednesday.
‘I go off our medical staff and there is no reason why he could not have played the last game.
‘It’s just disappointing he didn’t play a game for Queensland when he had an opportunity to.
Queensland will return to Adelaide to face SA in the Shield final next week
‘I have got a bunch of blokes here that all want to play.
‘I think we are disappointed he did not play the game against South Australia.
‘That’s the decision he made and he has communicated some of the reasons for that in the public.
‘Hopefully he will make that decision to make himself available for next week and we will make that decision on Friday.”
Queensland will return to Adelaide to face SA in the Shield final, starting next Wednesday at Karen Rolton Oval.
Khawaja made a century in his last game for Queensland and will be an important inclusion for the Bulls’ chances of upsetting SA if he plays in the decider.
