Marnus Labuschagne says teammate Usman Khawaja will be fired up for Sheffield Shield final

It’s been a fiery build up to the Sheffield Shield final and Queensland captain Marnus Labuschagne revealed just how it has impacted his state and Test teammate Usman Khawaja.

Queensland captain Marnus Labuschagne is adamant state and Test teammate Usman Khawaja won’t be adversely impacted by his fiery fuel with Bulls cricket boss Joe Dawes and instead it will “probably improve his performance” in the Sheffield Shield final which starts in Adelaide on Wednesday.

While Khawaja will return for his team having missed the final round clash with a hamstring issue, which sparked a war of words, the hosts have dropped leg-spinner Lloyd Pope for the clash at what looms a pace-friendly Karen Rolton Oval, despite having taken 21 wickets this season.

Khawaja came out swinging last Friday after Dawes suggested he didn’t have the hamstring issue the 38-year-old Test opener said had kept him out of the final round game, also against SA, which Queensland drew to make the final.

Labelling Dawes’ claims “categorically untrue” and “inflammatory”, Khawaja was “fuming” but said he wanted to prove his fitness to play in the final, which he has done.

Despite the sideshow, Labuschagne said Khawaja, who made a century in his previous game for Queensland, wouldn’t wilt with so much at stake.

“No, not at all,” Labuschagne said in Adelaide on Tuesday.

Usman Khawaja defended himself at a press conference last week at the Allan Border Field. Picture: Tertius Pickard

“If anything it will probably improve his performance.

“He loves big moments, he’s been amazing player for a long time, so I don’t think will have any issues getting going out there and performing at his best.”

Khawaja has made 352 runs in his four Shield games this season, and 455 in his last five red-ball innings, at an average of 151, including his monster 232 against Sri Lanka in Galla, and looms a key to any Queensland success.

SA captain Nathan McSweeney, who played two Tests with Khawaja last summer, said he’d been in contact seeking a “tee time at Kooyonga”, seemingly unperturbed by the saga.

“He wanted to see if he could get a tee time at Kooyonga, so I did send him a cheeky text,” he said.

“But he’s all good … he’s a professional player and has bene for along time now and I think he’ll be definitely ready and a massive wicket for us.”

Labuschagne said he met SA captain Nathan McSweeney, who was born in Queensland, “when he was 10” and they had a close friendship, but it would “end” as soon as they tossed the coin on Wednesday.

McSweeney labelled Adelaide Oval his “favourite cricket ground in the world” and but said he could understand why the game was not able to be played in between AFL games and there was “no excuse” to not perform at Karen Rolton Oval.

He said the decision to leave out Pope, who took his 21 wickets in just five games, was tough but purely based on the conditions they expect in the five-day game.

“Lloyd’s been great for us this year and his efforts are a great reason why we’re here and playing in a shield final,” McSweeney said.

“Karen Rolton Oval is typically a tough ground to bowl spin on.

“And the wicket has a little bit more moisture in it so hence we’re going with an extra (pace) bowler.

“It’s a tough decision but I think when you’re in finals, you’ve got to make tough decisions, and unfortunately he’s the one that is missing out.”

: Marnus Labuschagne of the Queensland Bulls and Nathan McSweeney of South Australia (Photo by Sarah Reed/Getty Images)

SA won hosting the rights for the final with six wins from 10 games, two more than anyone else, and three more than Queensland.

They are the only state not to have won the Shield final this century, the last victory coming in the 1995/96 season.

But McSweeney said confidence was high on the back of their success this summer, and the thirst for success was driving them.

“Everyone knows we haven’t had the success that we would have liked over the last number of years,” he said.

“This group, we’ve had a great year.

“But what’s the job that we can do right now? And it’s prepare really well, which we’ve done this week, and go out there and try and execute as best we can.

“Hopefully that means we’re on the right side of the ledger at the end of the day.

“A lot of the boys have come from interstate ... we’ve been given opportunity for a team that hasn’t had heaps of success.

“But we’ve been able to build it over the last few years as a group.”

Originally published as Marnus Labuschagne says teammate Usman Khawaja will be fired up for Sheffield Shield final