‘So much different’: Khawaja opens up on ball controversy that robbed Aussies of Ashes triumph

Usman Khawaja is calling on cricket authorities to ensure the ball change controversy that ultimately cost Australia the series win never happens again, as he relives the crazy final day of the Ashes.

Usman Khawaja has called on cricket authorities to take steps to ensure the ball change fiasco which cruelled Australia’s hopes of a final day Ashes triumph never happens again.

In the fifth Test at The Oval, Australia appeared on track to pull off an epic run chase and claim the urn, before Khawaja was struck on the helmet and England successfully lobbied umpires to change the ball that was nearly 35 overs old.

Australian players largely bit their lip at the time, but in The Test season three documentary to be released later this week, frustration at the farcical decision by umpires to hand England a ball that was visibly newer than the one they were replacing spills out.

Steve Smith said the replacement ball chosen by umpires – nothing like the one that had been in use to that point – was “from another planet” and “had a mind of its own”.

Khawaja says he would not have been surprised if told the ball was not a 2023 product, but in fact from the 2019 batch of Duke’s balls which was much friendlier for bowlers … however, stresses he has no proof.

What is not in dispute though according to Khawaja is that umpires say they picked a newer ball than the one being replaced because they felt there was no comparable option – and the Test opener said that should not be allowed to happen in future series.

Jimmy Anderson and Stewart Broad examine the ball. Picture: AFP

“A lot of the time I think it’s up to the grounds to provide the balls. Maybe we could look into doing that a little bit better,” Khawaja told this masthead.

“Making sure we have all the balls from all different types of overs and not just leaving it up to the ground.

“It’s something that the ICC could take hold of rather than leaving it up to the ground. There has to be a little bit of a better way to do it.

“We have to learn from this somehow.

Isn’t it supposed to be like for like when you change the ball 🤔

Must have been a small sample size in the box yesterday

🏏 #Ashes#ENGvAUSpic.twitter.com/CGvNwnbw9n

— Glenn Mitchell (@MitchellGlenn) July 31, 2023

“Just like what’s happened with DRS over the years and having neutral umpires, all sorts of things have happened in the game to try and improve it and make it more fair for both teams.”

Resuming on day five at 0-135, Australian players genuinely thought they were favourites to chase down a monster target of 384 to win, until the ball change took full effect.

“I felt like we were favourites,” Labuschagne said on the documentary.

“No doubt.

What do you think of the ball change? Picture: Getty Images

“We needed 250 to win, 10 down.

“… (then) it went from like -0.2 degrees (of swing) to 2 degrees of swing which is massive.”

Khawaja said from batting throughout the entire series and spending as much time at the crease as any other player, there was a distinct pattern of balls dying early in the innings and not bouncing or swinging.

However, all that changed with the replacement ball at The Oval, and Khawaja says England new instantly they had won the lottery like it was 2019.

“Even the English players knew it was hard,” Khawaja said.

“The ball felt a lot harder and different. They knew.

“They were giggling as they got that ball. I could tell something was up straight away.

“I was like, ‘oh, boy.’

“I’m not saying they were giggling because it was not the same (2023 ball), but it was definitely a nice ball. It was a newer ball.”

Khawaja relayed in The Test the conversation he had at the time with umpire Kumar Dharmasena.

TV footage appears to vividly show there were more appropriately aged balls umpires could have selected. Picture: Channel 9

“I asked Kumar, ‘How do you pick a ball that’s about eight overs old compared to a ball that was 35 overs old almost?’” he said.

“And his response was, ‘There was nothing else in the box’.

“I had to respond, ‘Well, you don’t pick anything!’

“It just felt so much different to any of the balls I played in the whole series and I’d been opening the batting the whole series so I had a pretty good feel of what the ball feels like on my bat and the hardness and what’s going on.

“It felt more like the 2019 ball. But honestly, we had no idea what ball it was.

“If they say it was a 2023 ball then there’s no point worrying about that stuff.

“The only thing you could say for sure is the ball was definitely a lot newer than the one they changed. Those things sometimes go with you, sometimes they go against you, so you just have to play on.”

Originally published as ‘So much different’: Khawaja opens up on ball controversy that robbed Aussies of Ashes triumph