Australian media savaged the underwhelming display of their batsmen on a blistering first day of the opening Ashes Test and conceded their defence is already in ‘total disarray’.
The hosts staggered to 123 for nine at stumps on the first day in Perth, still 49 runs behind England’s 172, despite Mitchell Starc’s career best figures of seven for 58.
While England’s pace attack grabbed headlines in Britain, the Australian focus turned inward, with Usman Khawaja at the centre of a storm over his absence at the start of the innings.
Khawaja, who had left the field late in England’s innings, was barred from opening the batting because of ‘toilet breaks and stretching’. However, it later emerged that he had been dealing with back stiffness, leading to a significant delay before he could return to the field.
The bizarre episode left Australian great Tom Moody furious, while the front page of The West Australian carried that claim that Khawaja had spent the eve of the first Test playing a round of golf – the full 18 holes.
‘Mulligan’, read the headline of the scathing front page. ‘Aussie batters – and the Ashes defence – in total disarray after Usman Khawaja was forced of the field suffering back spasms – a day after playing 18 holes of golf, on the eve of the first Test.’ A mulligan in golf is a free, extra shot taken after a poor shot, without penalty.
Khawaja had come off at the end of the 29th over and did not return until the 33rd, spending 19 minutes off the field while England lost three wickets during that period.
Under the laws of cricket, a player off the field for more than eight minutes cannot bat or bowl until they have been back on for the same amount of time.
Khawaja returned with only seven minutes fielded before Starc cleaned up the final two wickets, meaning he could not legally take his place as opener.
As a result, Test debutant Jake Weatherald was forced to face the first ball alongside Marnus Labuschagne, despite Khawaja being named to open in the starting XI.
Weatherald was dismissed for a second ball duck by Jofra Archer after a DRS review, before Khawaja was still unable to enter due to the time restriction.
It left Steve Smith coming in at number three instead, as the Australian top order descended into disarray within the first few overs of their reply.
Moody labelled the situation ‘poor management… beyond a joke… like Starc led the attack we needed Uzzie to lead the batting’.
David Warner also raised concerns about Khawaja’s fitness once he eventually walked to the crease, saying: ‘He just seems a bit stiff… I sense a little bit of discomfort there.’
Starc’s seven for 58 bowled England out inside 33 overs, the shortest completed innings of the Bazball era, yet Australia failed to exploit their early dominance.
Ben Stokes then spearheaded England’s fightback with five wickets, with Jofra Archer and Brydon Carse taking two each in a relentless evening session.
A crowd of more than 51,000 at Perth Stadium watched as Australia lost nine wickets in a single day, despite having been in control hours earlier.
The drama now leaves Australia facing a daunting second morning, still trailing by 49 runs with only one wicket remaining.
