Australia coach Andrew McDonald has guaranteed Usman Khawaja will play at the SCG, but is unsure if it will be the veteran’s last Test.
After turning 39 earlier in December, Khawaja’s future will continue to be a talking point until he announces his retirement.
A back injury ruled Khawaja out of Brisbane and the classy left-hander was then not picked for the third Test.
Steve Smith’s battle with veritgo symptoms handed Khawaja a late reprieve at the Adelaide Oval, with crucial knocks of 82 and 40 virtually locking him for the rest of the Ashes.
But with up to eight months until Australia’s next Test – likely to be in Darwin and North Queensland against Bangladesh – selectors may have to force Khawaja’s hand if he doesn’t make a call on his own.
“We haven’t had a conversation; the speculation has been from external [the media],” McDonald said at the MCG on Monday. “He’s with his family at the moment having a couple of days off.
“We’re always having conversations about where players are at … there’s no indication at my end that he’s calling it in Sydney.
“But his performance in this calendar year has been good enough to warrant selection, so I’d say he’ll be there marking centre in Sydney.”
Usman Khawaja walks from the MCG after being dismissed for a duck as Australia collapse to lose the fourth Ashes Test against England. Photograph: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images
McDonald admitted it would not be all Khawaja’s decision if he decided to push on after the Ashes.
“He’ll come to us if he’s going to retire, there’s no doubt about that,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of time as a selection group to make that decision.
“It’s sort of at an odd time, if there’s a series straight on the back of this, then it would be a little bit different.”
Even though he has played more than a decade in Queensland, Khawaja grew up in Sydney after moving from Pakistan with his family at an early age and made his Test debut at the SCG back in 2011.
There have been numerous memorable farewells – Steve Waugh, Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Justin Langer – at the venue given it is usually the last Test of the summer.
Khawaja would be warmly received by the Sydney crowd should he decide it is his last Test.
“We use Davey Warner as a test case, he got clapped off the SCG three years in a row because everyone thought it was going to be his last Test match,” McDonald said.
“If Uz makes no statement around his future leading into that Test match, that crowd will still be very supportive of him.
“Our challenge is if any of our great players retire, is that you want to acknowledge them.”
After losing their first home Ashes Test for 15 years with a two-day defeat at the MCG, Australia are desperate to complete a 4-1 series win and bank valuable World Test Championship points.
Opener Jake Weatherald, No 3 Marnus Labuschagne and allrounder Cameron Green are all going through lean patches with the bat.
But Australia will almost certainly stick with the trio, with Green’s potential replacement, Beau Webster, released to play in the Big Bash League before the SCG Test.
Offspinner Todd Murphy looms as a likely inclusion after Australia picked four specialist fast bowlers at the MCG.
Jhye Richardson, who was brought in for his first Test in four years, would likely make way for Murphy if the SCG pitch is not another paradise for seamers.
