Ashes 2025-26: Usman Khawaja's back spasm opens doors for Travis Head as long-term opener

Australia head coach Andrew McDonald has said that Usman Khawaja’s back issue will undergo further investigation ahead of the Brisbane Test. The concern follows Khawaja’s limited involvement in the opening Ashes match, after he was unable to open in either innings and batted only once. He also dropped a catch at slip before leaving the field during England’s second innings.

Australia’s players and staff returned to their home cities on Sunday, November 23, after the first Ashes Test in Perth concluded inside two days. The experienced campaigner's back spasms have become a significant talking point, and McDonald confirmed that the medical team would have a closer look at the problem.

"There were discussions around further investigation to whether it was more serious than what we sort of first anticipated. So we'll work through that. We'll get a squad together. We'll step through everything that we normally step through. We get to camp in six days' time. It's a long way out, a lot of information to gather between now and then, and hopefully Usman is fit and available for selection,” said McDonald as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

"I think anytime you spasm, it's a result of something going on in your back. So I think that further investigation is just due diligence around that. You spasm for a reason. He hasn't had it before, so that's what will probably entail a bit more further investigation. My gut feel is that it should be okay, but as I said, we'll wait for that information to be presented,” he added.

McDonald was asked whether Head's extraordinary performance in the second innings, where he scored 123 off 83 balls to win the Test match, would prompt a rethink about a permanent change at the top of the order.

"We've got a lot to consider. Batting orders are always debated heavily over a period of time. Middle order players haven't been sort of the ones that have been the popular ones to open the batting. So we'll discuss and work through what it looks like,,” said McDonald.

"I think it gave us a little bit of a lens potentially to the future in terms of adjusting batting orders in second innings, which is something that we have discussed. To be able to put different people in different positions with the scenario that was presented. So this one happened probably through a bit more chance and obviously the unfortunate injury to Usman. But I think it really probably opens up that discussion more than, more than anything else for us,” he added.

Australia’s selectors do not have a history of making changes based on a single innings. Steven Smith scored 91 not out in an unsuccessful fourth-innings chase in his fourth outing as an opener, but the experiment was abandoned after he averaged 28 across eight Test innings in the role.

Australia mulling over Head opening in Tests for quite some time now

Head’s impact in the pink-ball Test in Adelaide last year, where he made a match-winning century at No. 5 after being shielded from batting under lights on the first evening, will also weigh heavily in any decision to move him permanently to the top for Brisbane. Head had looked solid in the first innings in Perth when he came in during the 16th over before mistiming a pull shot to mid-on.

"We've sort of hypothesized around a middle order player going up to the top order if the second innings happened to flatten out. In particular, if we needed quick runs, the wicket was going to deteriorate. So in our strategy and our planning, we have tabled that from time to time,” said McDonald.

"We've had a conversation around Travis opening the batting for a long period of time, and Trav's has been on the record this week and previously around that also. I suppose, now that it's out there, yeah, happy to talk about it. Will we do it? If it presents at the right time, potentially,” he concluded.