Justin Langer: My say on Pat Cummins & Nathan Lyon as Australia mull team selection for day-night Ashes clash

There is an old Aussie saying: “Don’t give a sucker an even break”. Last week in Perth, Usman Khawaja succumbed to a debilitating disc issue in his lower back. Chaos ensued. First there was the confusion and poor management of his injury, where he spent too much time off the ground. Consequently, Marnus Labuschagne replaced him at the top of the order, with debutant Jake Weatherald walking to the crease with an unexpected partner. Captain Steve Smith was clearly unhappy. He was forced to bat three and Labuschagne open. After weeks of planning and conjecture, the settled and in form top four had been disrupted. A forced re-shuffle to the top four had Smith frustrated. 132 runs later, Australia were all out, and on the ropes. Smith’s mood was no better. Probably worse. That is until chaos returned. This time, she came in the form of Travis Head. The spectacular, breath-taking, mind-blowing, belligerent, brilliant, chaotic, Travis Head. From despair came triumph. Australia 1-0 up in the Ashes. “Don’t give a sucker an even break”. So where does that leave Usman Khawaja, whose back is yet to recover and is out of Thursday’s day-night Test match at the Gabba? On the one hand, Head’s innings in Perth is very hard to ignore. He is Australia’s white-ball opener who has stated publicly that he likes opening the batting and wants to do more of it. This week, he gets his chance to state his case again. If nothing else, this is exciting for the punters, but then again, it always is when Travis Head walks to the crease. Adding to Khawaja’s challenge is that Matt Renshaw is finding his groove opening for Queensland. Weatherald forced his way into a baggy green through weight of runs and young Victorian Campbell Kellaway continues to rise. He is highly regarded. Others are knocking. The competition is heating up. At last. Equally, Josh Inglis is an outstanding part of this evolving Australian cricket team. With elite short-form statistics, and a century against the England Lions a fortnight ago, Inglis is fast becoming Australia’s most versatile player behind Head. He can keep wicket brilliantly, he can bat anywhere in the order, and he’s proven himself across all three formats. His adaptability is pure gold in modern cricket. At 30 years old, Inglis embodies everything we want in an Australian cricketer. Not only does he have skill, courage, versatility and a fearless never-say-die attitude, but he is also the consummate team man. Leading into the series, I wrote of Inglis in The West: “Back-up wicketkeeper, who has recently played as a first-choice batter. Skilful, fast feet, and a highly popular member of the team, Inglis may need to bide his time, but provides confidence to the group sitting as the man in waiting.” Now he gets his chance in Australia sooner than expected, and I couldn’t be happier for him. Things can change quickly. There’s some talk Australia may rest Nathan Lyon, with Pat Cummins making a return. This would be a mistake. Not Cummins returning; he must play when he is ready. But so should Lyon. He has been, and is, Australia’s most important piece of the puzzle in our conditions. He must play. Khawaja is 38 years old and when you get to that age, your life raft tends to float away from the ship quicker than you would like. He still deserves to have a hand on the rope, but when the younger, hungry brigade gets their shot they will be looking to push the intensity of the current faster than he would hope. Thursday is a big day in Brisbane. Both teams will be looking for varying degrees of redemption after the highly-entertaining first Test that has left us all gasping for more. Let’s just hope we can be entertained for longer in round two.