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Former Australia quick is expected to link up with Afghanistan for the T20 World Cup in October-November

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Sep-2021Shaun Tait, the former Australia quick who recently signed a five-month deal to be bowling coach with the Afghanistan national team, has also been roped in as bowling coach of Puducherry in the Indian domestic circuit. Afghanistan remains a priority, though, and Tait will link up with Puducherry only when available.”I’m with [Puducherry] throughout the season based on availability from my commitments with the Afghanistan team,” Tait confirmed to ESPNcricinfo on Saturday. Puducherry have Dishant Yagnik as their head coach – both Tait and Yagnik have been players with Rajasthan Royals in the IPL in the past, and Yagnik has more recently been Royals’ fielding coach.”Tait has expressed his willingness to join the Puducherry team later this month. However, if he gets a call from Afghanistan he may join them and stay with the team before rejoining Puducherry for his duties,” a Cricket Association of Puducherry (CAP) official was quoted as saying by PTI, which said that Tait was expected to mentor the quick bowlers at the CAP academy in Puducherry too.Related

• Women's cricket 'in peril' but fans rejoice as the game returns to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan

• Afghanistan likely to host Australia and West Indies

India’s domestic calendar for 2021-22 will begin with the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy on November 4 this year, while the Ranji Trophy, the country’s premier first-class competition, starts on January 13, 2022. The 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy will get underway on December 8, with neutral venues being used for all tournaments.Tait’s appointment with Afghanistan was confirmed in early August, and his first assignment there was expected to be the three-match ODI series against Pakistan in Hambantota in early September. But that series was postponed indefinitely because of logistical concerns, and Tait will now link up with the team only prior to the T20 World Cup in late October. He was never expected to move to Kabul, and had said the agreement had been that he would join the team whenever they travelled.”There have been talks for a few months now about me possibly taking up the role,” 38-year-old Tait told ESPNcricinfo earlier about his Afghanistan gig. “It eventuated because head coach Lance Klusener wanted someone else to oversee the bowling side specifically.”Everyone talks about Afghanistan’s spinners, so one of the specifics of my role is to get people talking more about their fast bowlers. There is some improvement to be done and hopefully, I can add that side of things. With all the concentration on the spin, a couple of guys get picked to do the role at the death and they’re gonna need some guidance. That’s where I come in.”Tait is a level-two certified coach from Cricket Australia and has worked as a bowling coach with Melbourne Renegades in the Big Bash League and Bangla Tigers in the Abu Dhabi T10 league.

The change was made to free up Mooney, who is Giants’ designated wicketkeeper as well as opener

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Feb-2025Australia allrounder Ashleigh Gardner has been named Gujarat Giants captain for WPL 2025, ending fellow national team-mate Beth Mooney’s two-year reign at the helm.”It is an absolute honour for me to be named the captain of Gujarat Giants.” Gardner said in a Giants statement. “I have loved being a part of this team and I am excited to lead this fantastic group in the upcoming season. We have a great mix of young and experienced players and plenty of Indian talent in our squad. I am looking forward to working with the team and making our fans proud.”Related

• WPL 2025: Can new captain Gardner change Gujarat Giants' fortunes around?

• Shafali, Reddy and other players who could take the WPL route to Indian team

• Mithali Raj, Nooshin Al Khadeer part ways with Gujarat Giants

• WPL 2025: Chinelle Henry replaces injured Alyssa Healy at UP Warriorz

Gardner has been a vital cog for Australia across formats, chipping in with her all-round credentials. In the recent Women’s Ashes, she picked up five wickets including a second-innings four-for in the only Test match – a pink-ball affair at the MCG – and scored her maiden ODI century in the third ODI of the series. She missed the T20I leg of the multi-format series with a calf strain but had provided a reminder of her bowling abilities by picking 16 wickets for Sydney Sixers in WBBL 2024.”She is a fierce competitor,” Giants head coach Michael Klinger said. “Her game awareness, tactical acumen, and ability to inspire players make her the ideal choice to captain Gujarat Giants. We believe she will lead from the front and guide the team towards a successful campaign.”Gardner has been with Giants since the inaugural season and the move to elevate her to captaincy was made to free up Mooney, who is also the designated wicketkeeper and the opening batter for them. Gardner was also Giants’ vice-captain for most of the first season after Mooney picked up a calf injury one game into WPL 2023.Gardner is the No. 1-ranked allrounder in ICC’s ODI rankings while Mooney is the leading T20I batter.”I would like to thank Mooney for her highly valued leadership,” Klinger said. “Now, she will be able to focus on wicketkeeping and opening the batting lineup. She continues to be a major leader of our group.”Ahead of the auction for WPL 2025, Giants rejigged their support staff with assistant coach Nooshin Al Khadeer and mentor Mithali Raj parting ways. Australia assistant coach Daniel Marsh joined as the batting coach while IPL team Lucknow Super Giants’ spin-bowling coach Pravin Tambe is the bowling coach.

India will need to pull off the highest successful chase at the MCG to win the Boxing Day Test

Alagappan Muthu29-Dec-20243:36

Labuschagne on state of MCG pitch: diminishing bounce making batting harder

A see-sawing Boxing Day Test at the MCG is heading into territory rarely seen these days. A fifth-day finish and all results possible, with varying degrees of probability.Australia have earned a handsome lead – 333 with one wicket standing – after recovering from a wobble early in their second innings. India had looked in a promising position on Sunday – they had the hosts 91 for 6 – but they struggled to get through the tail and will have to break the record for the highest successful chase at the MCG to win the Test.Marnus Labuschagne, who top-scored for Australia with 70 off 139 balls, believed his team had always been ahead in the game. They took a first-innings lead of 105 and were able to build on it with crowd favourites Scott Boland and Nathan Lyon putting up a 55-run partnership for the last wicket.Related

• India, and Bumrah, fall short in compelling push for perfection

• Allrounder Reddy wants more: 'Not happy with the way I'm bowling'

• Bumrah gets to 200 wickets with the best average in Test cricket

• Lyon, Boland frustrate India after Bumrah rips through middle-order

• Boxing Day Test 2024-25 – a match to remember for the lower order

“I felt like we were probably ahead of the game just the whole way,” Labuschagne said. “I was sitting up at the top with our batting coach Michael Di Venuto and I was just watching every ball. We’re scrapping for runs, there was overthrows, leg byes, running twos, that last bit had everything. I mean we even had the game finished with a no-ball wicket into a last ball four, so I mean people that say Test cricket isn’t exciting, I mean I’m a player and I was watching and I was excited.”The natural wear and tear of the pitch as a Test match goes into the fifth day has brought a new challenge for the batters for the first time in this series.”As the game’s gone on the bounce has got less and more inconsistent,” Labuschagne said, wearing a bandage on his right arm from where an Akash Deep ball kicked up and hit him. “So we’re getting more balls hitting the stumps, more balls skidding through and we’re getting that coming through on the data. And that’s probably the major difference. The seam movement’s probably been the same [throughout the game] but just the amount of bounce is significantly lower so that makes for pretty tricky batting there. More balls are hitting the stumps from a shorter length, balls are skidding through, few balls shot up today.”India understand the challenge but prefer keeping that in the back of their mind as they look to correct the mistakes they made in the first innings, when they lost many wickets in a heap and needed to be rescued from 191 for 6 by a maiden Test century from Nitish Kumar Reddy.”About the pitch, I feel like you need to get one or two good partnerships, I feel like from the first day the movement was there off the pitch,” Reddy said. “The pitch is doing something and we can see later on the fourth day it was doing a little bit more, but we don’t need to put more pressure like the pitch is doing this or that, we need to go instantly according to the situation.”Does it help that India have a century-maker in their ranks as they prepare for a big chase? “Obviously when I come to the second-innings batting, it’s a fresh innings, I can’t start my innings from 100,” Reddy said. “So it’s a fresh innings, I have to start from starting, how I approached in the first innings, I have to be the same thing, and let’s see what the team plan, and according to that we’ll plan, and I think I have to leave the 100 behind and start the fresh innings.”We’ll come back strong in batting order, what we have done in the first innings, we’ll rectify the mistakes … we have to first take the last wicket and then we’ll plan accordingly.”

Ellyse Perry, who recently suffered a hip injury, could be a doubtful starter for RCB

S Sudarshanan13-Feb-20254:05

Mandhana: WPL has taught me a lot, not just captaincy

Who’s playing

Gujarat Giants vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Kotambi Stadium, Vadodara, February 14, 2025, 7.30pm IST

What to expect: Mandhana vs Gardner

No bowler has dismissed Smriti Mandhana more often than Ashleigh Gardner in Women’s T20s or in ODIs. With Gardner assuming the captaincy of Giants, she could look to bring herself on early against the RCB captain. With Mandhana in sublime form, it could be an interesting contest.Two of Giants’ four wins across two seasons of the WPL have come against RCB, including their first-ever victory.Related

• RCB's title defence hit by player unavailability, injuries

• Can new captain Gardner change Giants' fortunes?

• How the WPL is changing life for young Indian women

• Vastrakar, Sobhana ruled out of WPL with injuries

Team news and likely XIs: Mooney’s opening partner, Perry’s fitness in focus

The choice of Beth Mooney’s opening partner could pose a headache for Giants. Given Deandra Dottin commands a place in the XI, only one of Laura Wolvaardt and Phoebe Litchfield might find a place in the XI.Gujarat Giants (probable): 1 Beth Mooney (wk), 2 Laura Wolvaardt, 3 Harleen Deol, 4 Deandra Dottin, 5 Dayalan Hemalatha, 6 Ashleigh Gardner (capt), 7 Simran Shaikh, 8 Sayali Satghare, 8 Meghna Singh, 9 Tanuja Kanwar, 10 Kashvee Gautam, 11 Shabnam Shakil/Mannat Kashyap.Ellyse Perry is heading into WPL 2025 on the back of suffering a hip injury during the Women’s Ashes Test in Melbourne. She could take the No. 4 spot in the absence of Sophie Devine. If Perry does not pull up well for the opening game, RCB could go with Georgia Wareham at No. 4 and play Charlie Dean as well. The injury to Asha Sobhana, a sure-starter who has been ruled out of the tournament, adds to the selection complications for them.1:43

Gardner: We have fantastic youth in our set-up

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (probable): 1 Smriti Mandhana (capt), 2 Danni Wyatt-Hodge, 3 S Meghana, 4 Ellyse Perry, 5 Richa Ghosh, 6 Raghvi Bist, 7 Kanika Ahuja, 8 Georgia Wareham, 9 Jagravi Pawar, 10 Kim Garth, 11 Renuka Singh.

Players to watch: Deandra Dottin and Richa Ghosh

With their acrimonious equation from WPL 2023 behind them, Deandra Dottin could be key to Giants’ success. She made a successful return to internationals just ahead of the Women’s T20 World Cup last year, where she was West Indies’ leading run-scorer while picking up five wickets at an economy rate of 5.42. In the home T20Is against Bangladesh, Dottin scored 110 in three games at a strike rate of 203.70. Having played ODIs against India at the Kotambi Stadium, Dottin would have an idea of what to expect, and Giants would want her to step up with the ball too, especially at the death.4:32

RCB will have it tough against well-rounded Giants

Very few Indian players in the WPL can do what Richa Ghosh can – finish matches as a power-hitter. With RCB battling player-unavailability and fitness issues, Ghosh will be a vital cog in that middle order. She showed good hitting form in the home season against West Indies and Ireland. RCB relied on her prowess last year to win the title. She is third in the list of most sixes in the WPL; expect her to move up as the season progresses. How she does could well decide how the defending champions start their campaign.

Key stats

• Ashleigh Gardner is Giants’ leading run-scorer (324) as well as wicket-taker (17)
• Giants have had eight opening pairs in the two years, the most in the WPL.
• Giants have hit 43 sixes in the WPL, the fewest among all teams.
• RCB have two bowlers in their squad with T20I hat-tricks – Ekta Bisht and Heather Graham.

Should Hong Kong chase the target down, it would be their highest successful T20I chase

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Sep-2025Sediqullah Atal and Azmatullah Omarzai struck half-centuries each to carry Afghanistan to 188 for 6 in the opening match of the men’s T20 Asia Cup. Hong Kong had their moments, their spinners in particular harnessing slow conditions well enough to frustrate their more pedigreed opponents. But the gulf in class eventually showed as Yasin Murtaza’s side dropped catches and committed misfields to hurt their own chances.Sediqullah has brought up each of this three T20I fifties in his last four innings, and as well as he looked out in the middle, standing tall at the crease and largely coping with the lack of pace, he benefited from three missed chances. A man who could’ve been dismissed in the very first over in the end batted through to finish on 73 off 52.Murtaza was involved in all three lives Sediqullah got – twice dropping the catch himself and once having to watch it go down off his own bowling. He did the best he could to make up for it, the three Hong Kong spinners giving the ball such little pace but so much air that this game looked straight out of the 90s. As such, the more modern day T20 batter wasn’t able to adjust. Murtaza, Ehsan Khan and Kinchit Shah picked up 3 for 75 in 11 overs.However, the arrival of pace in the 17th over changed the game with Atal and Omarzai targeting Ayush Shukla. Afghanistan scored 69 runs in the last four overs with Omarzai raising his first T20I half-century. From the simple clear-the-front-leg slog to the cheeky ramp past the keeper, the Afghanistan allrounder has shown impressive range on a difficult batting pitch and finished with a strike rate of 252.38.Should Hong Kong chase the target down, it would be their highest successful T20I chase.

The board elections will be held on October 6 after plenty of controversy in the lead-up

Mohammad Isam05-Oct-2025BCB president Aminul Islam has said he operated within the board’s constitution in the election process last month. His statement was in reference to a letter he issued to the country’s sports secretary on September 18, in which he asked to cancel the previous councillor nomination forms and instructed them to submit new forms.A writ petition challenged the validity of Aminul’s letter, and on September 22, the country’s High Court had issued a ruling along with an interim order suspending the effectiveness of the letter.On Sunday, the chamber judge of the appellate division, Justice Farah Mahbub, ruled that the High Court’s suspension order would remain in force. It paves the way for the BCB election to be held on October 6 amid a cloud of controversy, including manipulation and interference.Aminul explained he had issued the letter as he had not received sufficient names of cricketers or organisers from the country’s districts and divisions.Related

• Dhaka cricket clubs officials call BCB elections 'illegal'

• Tamim withdraws from BCB elections: 'I cannot be a part of this'

• BCB elections on October 6; Tamim accuses board president of 'interference'

• Faruque Ahmed removed as BCB president

“I want to clarify one thing. There was a writ against my letter,” Aminul said. “The letters that were addressed to me as the BCB president had mentioned clearly the three important areas in the BCB election. The chairman of the district or divisional sports body, who is usually the district or divisional administrator, has to sign it. Since these sports bodies don’t exist now, there are ad-hoc committees which must have a cricketer and an organiser in the body.”When these lists reached me, I saw only three [districts/divisions] qualified [in the criteria]. Shariatpur and Jamalpur were among those that qualified. So we couldn’t do an election with three individuals. I was forced to send the letter [on September 18], based on the constitution. Thereafter, there was a writ against the letter. It was cleared today. This election is such that a lot of things came against my name. I want to defend myself [by saying] that I was always within the constitution.”Aminul also ruled out government influence or interference and said that the country’s sports adviser was trying to “ensure a fair election”.”I don’t remember exactly when I said that the sports adviser requested me [to participate in the elections]. The sports adviser always helped me during my tenure [as BCB president]. I want to thank him for it,” Aminul said. “He is a person at the ministerial level but I know that he spent night and day, going to different places so that we can have a fair election and we can form a good board.”I didn’t think there was any influence. I feel I need to continue for Bangladesh cricket. If anyone feels I am not good enough, I am ready to leave any time.”Aminul Islam was named BCB president in May•BCB

Aminul did not answer questions about Tamim Iqbal’s withdrawal from the election and Faruque Ahmed’s return to the BCB, after being ousted from the president’s position in May. Tamim had alleged interference in the election process, particularly referencing Aminul’s letter.Faruque’s return has come as a surprise, as he reportedly had a falling out with the country’s sports ministry. He then became a BCB councillor, which was also controversial as he had sent his nomination form a few hours after the deadline. Aminul said that if he gets re-elected as president on Monday, he will have zero tolerance against conflict of interest, a problem that has plagued the BCB for years.Aminul, at the start of his BCB presidency on May 30, had said his term was going to be a “quick T20 innings”. At the end of his tenure [on October 5], he used another cricketing term to describe his experience.”[On the field] there is a technique. You can’t bowl more than one or two bouncers in the over. You can’t bowl a no-ball. Here, there were plenty of no-balls. Beamers were not judged as no-balls.”

He shared a record third-wicket stand of 127 with Gareth Roderick in six-wicket win

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay06-Jul-2025Kashif Ali struck a commanding 88 off just 46 balls, his highest T20 score, to help steer Worcestershire Rapids to a six-wicket victory over Northamptonshire Steelbacks at Wantage Road, and keep their qualification hopes alive.Kashif was in total control, smashing seven fours and six sixes during a third-wicket stand of 127 with Gareth Roderick (36) – the highest for Worcestershire against any opposition in T20 cricket, beating the previous best accumulated by Brett D’Oliveira and Adam Hose against Yorkshire at Worcester just last month.Ben Sanderson (2 for 24) removed both set batters in the 15th over, but by then Worcestershire were closing in on victory and sent Northamptonshire to their fourth straight defeat.Earlier Adam Finch ran through Northamptonshire’s middle order, claiming three for 28, including two wickets in two balls, as the hosts tried to kick on after a lacklustre start. It came after Tom Taylor snared 2 for 22 on his return to his old club as the Steelbacks lost three wickets for 11 in 15 balls in the powerplay, finishing the first six overs on just 34 for 3.Northamptonshire had Sanderson to thank for posting a near competitive total, his 27 off 16 balls helping to propel them to 152 for 9.In Northamptonshire’s powerplay, while Ricardo Vasconcelos scooped Khurram Shahzad for six, he failed to middle an attempted pull against Ben Dwarshuis, and instead top-edged, keeper Roderick having plenty of time to judge the catch.Taylor struck twice in the next over, his third, as first Robinson top-edged Taylor to mid-on as he went to turn one to leg, before the bowler hooped one back in to send Ravi Bopara’s off-stump flying. With Dwarshuis conceding just two off his next over, the Steelbacks were well behind the pace.Northamptonshire skipper David Willey (13) powered consecutive boundaries through extra cover off Khurram to bring up Northamptonshire’s 50 but his fightback ended next ball when he chopped onto his stumps, giving Pakistan international Khurram (2 for 40) his first wicket in Worcestershire colours.Justin Broad (19) played his shots, but he became the fifth wicket when he reached for a wide ball from Fateh Singh and dragged it onto his stumps.Finch then struck twice in the fifteenth over accounting for Lewis McManus and Saif Zaib in the space of four balls. First McManus was undone by a full ball which clattered into the base of the stumps. While Zaib then sent one flying through extra cover, he pulled Finch’s next delivery to deep backward square-leg where Isaac Mohammed held a stunning diving catch.George Bartlett scooped Khurram for six, but he became Finch’s third victim when he hit straight to cover.Sanderson pulled Dwarshuis for six before smashing 14 off the penultimate over bowled by Shahzad. First, he dispatched a free hit out of the ground, before inside edging for four and then dissecting two cover fielders. While he was bowled by Khurram’s final delivery, a George Scrimshaw boundary saw Northamptonshire pass 150.In the chase, Willey (2 for 22) struck twice in his opening overs, Mohammed who hit straight to mid-off, while Brett D’Oliveira was bowled stepping away.Kashif played positively from the get-go, garnering a handsome straight drive off Willey and a straight six off Sanderson. He targeted Broad, hitting consecutive boundaries before pulling over midwicket as the Rapids ended the powerplay on 44 for 2.Roderick, who started slowly, enjoyed Scrimshaw’s extra pace, a brace of boundaries bringing up Worcestershire 50 off 26 balls, before Kashif hit Scrimshaw for a massive six over deep midwicket. A similar shot in the pacer’s next over brought Kashif six more before he ran two to reach his half-century off 24 balls.Roderick finished the over by crunching another maximum, Scrimshaw conceding 31 off his first two overs.The runs kept coming for Kashif despite a blow on the foot by a perfect yorker from Willey. He attacked the spin of Pope too, coming down the wicket to smite him over deep midwicket.Sanderson then broke the partnership, Kashif falling to a well-judged catch in the deep by Broad, while Roderick spooned a catch around the corner, but some lusty blows from Ethan Brookes helped seal the win.

Saurabh Netravalkar and Hardik Tamore also set to be included in upcoming auction

Nagraj Gollapudi and Matt Roller21-Nov-2024England fast bowler Jofra Archer has been added back to the final auction list days after his name did not feature in shortlist sent by IPL recently to franchises last weekend. ESPNcricinfo has learned that Archer’s addition was informally confirmed to franchises on Thursday, three days before the two-day mega auction will start on November 24 in the in Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah.While the IPL is yet to make the news public, the franchises will be interested to see the set which features Archer. Along with his England team-mate Mark Wood, Archer was among the notable absentees in the 574-player shortlist the IPL had sent to franchises. Their absence raised eyebrows considering both England quicks were part of the original longlist sent by IPL. Archer had set the maximum base price of INR 2 crore.He will now be part of the first set of fast bowlers (Set 6) which currently has seven quicks and will come up for bidding on the first day.ESPNcricinfo understands Archer and his representatives have been in discussions with the ECB and the BCCI this week, seeking clarification on the repercussions in the event that he was not part of the shortlist. Archer has a central contract with the ECB which runs until the end of September, giving them an element of control over his workload.Related

• England players in the IPL auction: Five things to look out for

• Vettori to leave Australia Test coaching duties for IPL auction

• Pant, Starc, Rahul and others in line to earn big at the auction

• Who should MI and CSK right-to-match?

• Which players should RR and KKR look to buy back?

Archer has not played Test cricket since early 2021 but England remain hopeful that he will return to the format next year, when they face India at home and Australia away. “Everything is going exactly to plan for Jofra,” managing director Rob Key told the last week. “Can he play Tests next summer? With all my fingers crossed, yes.”Spending April and May at the IPL would make that significantly harder for Archer, ruling out the possibility of him playing for Sussex in the early stages of the County Championship season. The ECB blocked Archer from entering last year’s auction to avoid him rushing back from injury, but doing so this year would have left him unable to play in the tournament until 2027 at the earliest.The IPL has introduced new regulations for this auction cycle, stipulating that players who have previously appeared in the league but do not register for a mega-auction would be unable to register for the subsequent mini-auction. A separate regulation says that a player who is signed at an auction and then withdraws without a legitimate reason will face a two-year ban.Archer, 29, returned to action this summer following a long injury lay-off, featuring in England’s white-ball series against Pakistan, Australia and West Indies as well as the T20 World Cup. His workload was closely managed by medical staff throughout, but he was able to play all three ODIs in the Caribbean earlier this month.At the 2022 mega-auction, Mumbai Indians spent INR 8 crore (then USD 1.06m approx.) on Archer even though he had just undergone elbow surgery and was not fit to play that season. He played five games for MI in 2023, taking two wickets, before his season was ended prematurely by another elbow issue.Archer was named MVP in his most recent full IPL season, taking 20 wickets for Rajasthan Royals in the 2020 edition which was held in the UAE. In total, he has taken 48 wickets in 40 appearances in his IPL career.ESPNcricinfo has learned of two further additions to the auction shortlist: USA fast bowler Saurabh Netravalkar will be player No. 575 and Hardik Tamore, the Mumbai wicketkeeper-batter, will be player No. 576.

CA’s medical staff will look into Khawaja’s back spasm and the coach says the batting order will be discussed leading into the Brisbane Test after Head’s heroics

Alex Malcolm24-Nov-2025Australia coach Andrew McDonald has said there will be further investigation into Usman Khawaja’s back issue in the lead-up to the Brisbane Test and admitted the selectors have “a lot to consider” around the batting order after Travis Head’s match-winning performance as a stand-in opener.Australia’s players and staff flew to their home cities on Sunday after the first Ashes Test finished inside two days in Perth.Khawaja’s back spasms have become a major talking point, with the 38-year-old unable to open in both innings and only able to bat once in the game. He also dropped a catch at slip before leaving the field in England’s second innings.Related

• The Khawaja debate: for and against his Test career continuing

• Inglis hammers rapid ton amid Australia batting order debate

• Head adds to career catalogue of mind-blowing knocks on the biggest stage

• Smith stalls talk on Head's permanent role as Ashes opener

• Head: 'It's not going to get much bigger than this'

McDonald confirmed that the medical staff would look into the injury further as Khawaja has never suffered a back spasm of that nature in his lengthy career.”There was discussions around further investigation to whether it was more serious than what we sort of first anticipated,” McDonald said on Monday. “So we’ll work through that. We’ll get a squad together. We’ll step through everything that we normally step through.”We get to camp in six days’ time. It’s a long way out, a lot of information to gather between now and then, and hopefully Usman is fit and available for selection.”I think anytime you spasm, it’s a result of something going on in your back. So I think that further investigation is just due diligence around that. You spasm for a reason. He hasn’t had it before, so that’s what will probably entail a bit more further investigation.”My gut feel is that it should be okay, but as I said, we’ll wait for that information to present.”McDonald dismissed Khawaja’s age as a reason for the back issue flaring up. Khawaja did play 18 holes of golf on each of three days leading into the Test match (54 holes in total), something he had done previously leading into a Test without issue. But McDonald, like CA chief executive Todd Greenberg, reiterated that it had never caused a problem before.”These things can happen,” McDonald said. “And I don’t think you can join the dots to something around his age. I think it’s just one of those things that’s happened.”Travis Head smashed his way to an extraordinary 69-ball century•Getty Images

McDonald was asked whether Head’s extraordinary performance in the second innings, where he made 123 off 83 balls to win the Test match, would cause a rethink about a permanent change at the top of the order.”We’ve got a lot to consider,” McDonald said. “Batting orders are always debated heavily over a period of time. Middle order players haven’t been sort of the ones that have been the popular ones to open the batting. So we’ll discuss and work through what it looks like.”I think it gave us a little bit of a lens potentially to the future in terms of adjusting batting orders in second innings, which is something that we have discussed. To be able to put different people in different positions with the scenario that was presented. So this one happened probably through a bit more chance and obviously the unfortunate injury to Usman. But I think it really probably opens up that discussion more than, more than anything else for us.”Australia’s selectors do not have a history of making a change off a sample size of one innings. Steven Smith made 91 not out in an unsuccessful fourth innings chase in his fourth innings as an opener but the experiment was shelved after he averaged 28 across eight Test innings in the role.The impact Head had on the pink-ball Test in Adelaide last year, where he made a match-winning century at No. 5 in Australia’s first innings having been shielded from batting in a difficult period under lights on the first night, will also be a key factor in any decision to move him permanently to the top for Brisbane. Head had looked reasonably good in the first innings in Perth when he entered in the 16th over before shovelling a pull shot to mid-on.The potential to be flexible with Head looks more appealing to the coach.”We’ve sort of hypothesized around a middle order player going up to the top order if the second innings happened to flatten out,” McDonald said. “In particular, if we needed quick runs, and the wicket was going to deteriorate. So in our strategy and our planning, we have tabled that from time to time.”We’ve had a conversation around Travis opening the batting for a long period of time, and Trav’s has been on the record this week and previously around that also. I suppose, now that it’s out there, yeah, happy to talk about it. Will we do it? If it presents at the right time, potentially.”