Ashes 2023: Usman Khawaja reflects on Ashes failure, lessons learnt and technical breakthroughs

Australia batter Usman Khawaja reflected upon his previous Ashes series and expressed that England is a rather challenging place to bat for the top-order. Following the conclusion of the crucial World Test Championship (WTC) final starting on June 7, the two arch-rivals – England and Australia, will lock horns in the eagerly-anticipated five-match Test series starting on June 16.

With the series on the horizon, southpaw Khawaja reflected on his prior tours to England and believed that he always found the surface challenging for the top-order batters. However, he also added that the experiences have helped him in his learning curve and acknowledged that it is best to go with ‘low-expectations’.

"England is, in my opinion, the toughest place in the world to bat for top-three batsmen. In 2013, I was quite young and it was a pretty s*** tour, if I am being honest. It was tough work. I learned a lot from that tour. My last series there [in 2019] it was a tough series for batsmen,” Khawaja was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

“The whole tour will show you that, other than Steven Smith who was on another planet. If I've learned anything, it is work hard, train hard and [when] going to England, go with low expectations. You are going to fail as a batsman, but when you do score you try to cash in as much as you can,” he added.

They are unbelievable bowlers: Usman Khawaja

Khawaja also spoke of about the prospect of being challenged by the lethal duo of James Anderson and Stuart Broad. Notably, the English duo recently eclipsed Australia greats- Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath’s Test record of 1001 wickets as teammates during a match against New Zealand in February. Khawaja further added that it becomes ‘satisfying’ while getting the runs against world-class bowlers such as the likes of Anderson and Broad. 

"Anderson and Broad…they are unbelievable bowlers and tough work at the start. That's what makes it so awesome when you do score runs and you contribute to a winning team, which hopefully I'll do and others will do over there. When you do it against guys like Broad and Anderson in England, it's just that much more satisfying,” added Khawaja.