Aussie batters to play through pain in last Test of summer

Australia’s team hasn’t had the ideal preparation for the last Test of the summer, with two key players set to battle through pain in Brisbane.

Usman Khawaja has been cleared to play in the final Test of the home summer, but Travis Head is in doubt after being diagnosed with Covid.

Khawaja was struck on the jaw by a bouncer from West Indies debutant Shamar Joseph in the dying stages of Australia’s 10-wicket win in the first Test in Adelaide.

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The veteran opener was forced to retire hurt and there were fears he had broken his jaw.

But scans confirmed Khawaja had avoided a fracture and initial concussion symptoms, so he is free to play in the last Test of the summer against the West Indies, a day-night Test at the Gabba beginning on Thursday.

It likely means spare batsman Matt Renshaw will be released from the Test squad to play for the Brisbane Heat in Wednesday night’s Big Bash final against the Sydney Sixers at the SCG.

Usman Khawaja has been cleared to play in the last Test of the summer. (Photo by Izhar KHAN / AFP)

But it’s not such good news for Head, who is expected to play at the Gabba despite contracting Covid.

The No. 5 batter’s arrival in Brisbane was delayed after testing positive, but he is set to train on Tuesday night and will isolate ahead of the match.

Head could play the Test with Covid as long as he sits away from teammates like Renshaw did during last year’s Sydney Test.

It means Australia is set to named an unchanged line-up for the second Test against the West Indies, with no plans to rest any of the fast bowling cartel.

Head was player of the match in the first Test after scoring 119 in a lowscoring affair at Adelaide Oval — his seventh Test century and yet another innings that rescued Australia from a tricky position.

The 30-year-old has excellent recent form at the Gabba - scoring a counterattacking century in the 2021-22 Ashes and an important 92 against South Africa last summer in a Test that ended inside two days.

Travis Head is set to play through Covid. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

Meanwhile, Khawaja will auction off the “All Lives Are Equal” shoes he was banned from wearing during the Pakistan Test series to raise funds for Palestinian children.

Khawaja announced on social media he had partnered with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to donate the proceeds from the auction to the organisation’s Children of Gaza appeal.

The 37-year-old last week released a line of T-shirts featuring his shoes and messages he had written on them, including “freedom is a human right”.

Khawaja was banned by the ICC from wearing the shoes featuring the two messages during Australia’s Test series against Pakistan in reference to the ongoing Israel-Palestine war.

— With NCA Newswire