Usman Khawaja slams Perth pitch after ICC gives top rating following two-day Ashes opener
Perth’s pitch was given the top rating by the ICC despite the two-day Ashes opener. A frank Usman Khawaja has disagreed, saying it was a “piece of s***” on day one.
Usman Khawaja has risked disciplinary action from Cricket Australia after branding the Perth pitch which hosted a two-day Ashes opener a “piece of s***”.
In a colourful address in which he described the remarkable Travis Head as “a mix between a genius and a bogan”, the under-fire opener dissolved into giggles at a lunch for his Usman Khawaja Foundation in Brisbane on Friday when discussing match referee Ranjan Madugalle’s rating of the Perth pitch as “very good” despite the first Ashes Test finishing inside two days.
“Nineteen wickets on the first day and about 20 people got hit, that’s a great wicket - that seems real fair,” Khawaja said.
Asked by Code Sports’ Robert Craddock if the deck was harder than it looked, Khawaja said it was getting through the opening day that was the trick, with the wicket improving as the match went on.
“The same thing happened last year in the Indian Test, it’s just that day one wicket, the ball just does not react,” he said of a match in which 17 wickets fell on the opening day.
“Steve Smith’s by far the best cricketer I’ve ever played with and he’s missing the middle of his bat by a long way - he does not miss the middle of his bat. He’s getting hit in the elbow, he’s getting hit.”
It was the unpredictable nature of the bounce on the opening day that was undoing batters, Khawaja said.
“You can’t really predict up and down. Up and down is the hardest - sideways is a little bit easier but up and down your hands can’t catch up.
“So day one wicket at (Perth) is a piece of s***, I’m happy to say that. It has been last year, it was this year.
“They do get better. Day two, day three, and then day four, they start to crack up and cure again.
“We know day two, day three is usually the best time to bat. So whenever we play in Perth, it’s one of the few places we win the toss and bat first hoping that we can bat again maybe the end of day two and into day three.”
The Australian team could see the movement dropping considerably in real-time analysis during England’s second innings and knew they would have the best of the conditions even before Head took the England attack apart with a swashbuckling century.
IT WAS BAZBALL, NOT THE PITCH: ICC VERDICT CONDEMNS POMS
— Daniel Cherny
The extremely quick ending to the Perth Test has been entirely attributed to game style and the dominance of ball over bat with ICC match referee Ranjan Madugalle giving the Perth Stadium pitch the top rating available.
Cricket Australia announced on Thursday that the deck in Perth had been categorised as “very good” despite the match finishing inside two days and being the shortest Ashes Test with a winner in terms of balls bowled since 1888.
CA’s chief of cricket James Allsopp said the ICC rating had vindicated the preparation of Perth Stadium head curator Isaac McDonald.
“The match referee’s “very good” rating justifies our belief Perth Stadium produced a pitch that provided a fair balance between bat and ball,” Allsopp said.
“The dominance of some brilliant pace bowling from both sides and the frenetic nature of the contest meant the match lasted only two days.
“This was disappointing for fans holding tickets for days three and four, but we saw some incredible moments which captivated huge viewing audiences and will inspire even more kids to pick up a bat and ball this summer.
“As always, we want to ensure pitches across Australia have their own characteristics and we’re looking forward to another enthralling contest under lights at the Gabba starting next Thursday.”
ICC match referees can use four different labels to judge pitches and outfields: very good, satisfactory, unsatisfactory and unfit.
Originally published as Usman Khawaja slams Perth pitch after ICC gives top rating following two-day Ashes opener
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