Why the ‘toughest job in cricket’ will be even harder for Khawaja’s successors

As effortless as Travis Head makes opening the batting look at times, Australia may well only gain a true appreciation of the “toughest job in cricket” now Usman Khawaja has called time on his career.

When Khawaja’s 51-minute retirement press conference turned to his second Test life as an opener – stroking, sweeping and ultimately stacking up 3412 runs at an imposing average of 48 – he couldn’t help himself.

“Now batting five to finish my career – how nice,” Khawaja said with a grin. “What a dream ... I wake up a bit more relaxed. I can sip my latte [and think], ‘Ah the openers will go out first and I’ll come in later.’

“There is a mental element to opening which, unless you’ve opened, you can’t really relate to it … It’s still the toughest role there is, by far.”

That Khawaja’s average as an opener for 44 Tests holds up so well despite his past two lean years highlights just how prolific (2290 runs at 58) he was when he first returned to the side in 2022.

That Australian coach Andrew McDonald was still apparently talking to him with a view to the 2027 tour of India in the past few weeks indicates that the questions over the top order will take on even greater urgency now Khawaja has confirmed his departure after the Sydney Test.

With Australian pitches favouring seamers and fast bowlers the world over basking in the wonders of wobble seam, opening the batting in 2026 is all sorts of tough.

Khawaja’s struggles in the twilight of his career against top-class pace around the wicket delivered by the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Shamar Joseph and Kagiso Rabada are those of any opponent tasked with facing Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and co.

The jury remains out on Jake Weatherald’s Test credentials after a promising 72 in Brisbane and not much else this series, particularly given England have exposed his habit of falling over his front leg.

Weatherald’s rise to the baggy green did come courtesy of bulk Sheffield Shield runs from Hobart, where Bellerive Oval is the toughest batting strip in the country. But for an Australian opener, tours of England and India are the supreme test, and will prove so again in the next 18 months.

Next February’s five-Test Border-Gavaskar trophy, followed by the 2027 Ashes in England, present the chance to end series-winning droughts in both countries that stretch beyond 20 years.

Since the 2015 Ashes, Australia’s openers have averaged 30.43 in England – a significant drop from the 37.54 mark set since 1960 (a date chosen to avoid the influence of uncovered pitches).

Khawaja and Chris Rogers are the only Australian openers to hit centuries on English soil, with Warner’s failure to post three figures a blight on his overall record.

The downturn in India is similar – from an overall opening return of 39.03 to 31.67 since 2015, though Head’s prowess there in 2023 sowed the seeds of his recent shift up the order.

Head and English counterpart Ben Duckett typically bat at a million miles an hour, with their contrasting Ashes series a study in the extremes of such an approach.

Khawaja acknowledged on Friday that “sometimes openers come out of nowhere” with a nod to Head and not to mention his own shift.

Queensland teammate Matt Renshaw is building a weight of Sheffield Shield and Big Bash runs that presents a different proposition to his first Test iteration, not dissimilar to Khawaja’s last and most successful Test return.

Campbell Kellaway’s most impressive displays have come whenever he has played against genuine Test quality bowlers, be it Rabada, Starc or England’s Josh Tongue.

Weatherald has the SCG Test to shore up his spot and then an eight-month break until the next XI is picked to face Bangladesh, with a South African tour and summer Tests against New Zealand to follow.

As he dwelt on what it takes to face the fastest, freshest bowlers with a new ball every time you go to work, Khawaja stressed patience, above all else, for those tasked with cricket’s toughest job.

“I think the hardest thing about opening is not opening for a few games, it’s opening for a year, opening for two years,” he said.

“Because the grind doesn’t take effect [until] a bit later. It’s cumulative. I came in and I opened. It wasn’t until a couple of years after that I thought, ‘Phew, opening’s tough.’ I was just mentally drained from always thinking about opening, facing the new ball.

“That’s the tough stuff of opening. I would never judge an opener purely based on a few games. Even right now with Jake or Heady. You judge them over a year or two because that’s when you really see if these guys are a [good] fit for opening.”

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