Cricket Australia fuming over Usman Khawaja’s ‘piece of s***’ comment on Perth pitch

Usman Khawaja will be asked to explain why he labelled Perth’s day one pitch a “piece of s***”, with Cricket Australia officials displeased by the opener’s public assessment.

Usman Khawaja will be asked to explain himself to displeased Cricket Australia officials after his inflammatory comments regarding the first Test pitch at a function on Friday.

Khawaja, whose career is at a crossroads heading into the Gabba Test, described the day one Perth deck as a “piece of shit” when interviewed at a function for his foundation on Friday.

It’s understood the CA hierarchy has been miffed by the remarks, with the veteran opener to be given the chance to respond when the Australian team congregates in Brisbane on Sunday.

From there it remains possibility that Khawaja could face formal sanctions over the matter.

The Perth Stadium pitch was given the top available rating by ICC match referee Ranjan Madugalle despite the match 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.

“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.

“Up and down (movement) is the hardest, sideways is a little bit easier, but up and down, your hands can’t catch up.

Usman Khawaja has been issued with a please explain by Cricket Australia.

“So, day one wicket at (Perth) is a piece of s —t, I’m happy to say that. It has been last year; it was this year.”

Khawaja said the pitch would have got better had the match gone longer.

“They do get better. Day two, day three, and then day four, they start to crack up and cure again,” he said.

“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.”

Originally published as Cricket Australia fuming over Usman Khawaja’s ‘piece of s***’ comment on Perth pitch