The Ashes: Usman Khawaja reveals extent of back problems which forced him off the field in first Test

Veteran Australia batter Usman Khawaja has revealed the extent of the back problems which forced him to spend much of the first Ashes Test off the field receiving treatment. The 38-year-old’s revelations came as he confirmed the spasms and pain which meant he could not open in either innings of the Perth Test had dissipated. He has declared himself fit to play in the second game of the series, which starts next week at the Gabba. Due to spending too much time off the ground as his side fielded, Khawaja was unable to take up his customary position at the top of the order in either of Australia’s turns with the bat. He eventually came to the crease at No.4 in his Australia’s first innings but managed only two, before not being required in the second as a blazing hundred from his replacement Travis Head saw his side home. Speaking at a fundraising event for his charity the Usman Khawaja Foundation, Khawaja said he was desperate to field on the morning of day two in order to ensure he would be able to take his place at the top of the order. “I had anti-inflammatories — real strong ones — was on really strong pain-killers all through that night and even in the morning and I got myself to a place where I could actually field again,” Khawaja said. “Before I went on, the physio said, ‘you’re feeling good now but the slightest movement can make it three times, four times, 10 times worse, you should know that’s a risk’. “I was like, ‘I either do that or I don’t open for my country’.” Khawaja’s back problems re-emerged when he came crashing down after an attempt to claim an edge which sailed over his head at first slip, after which he left the field and did not reappear. “As I landed, I was like, ‘Oh no, I’m gone here’,” Khawaja said. “I had to call (Alex) Carey over and I was like, ‘I can’t stand up’. “I walked off the field, and I was pretty devastated.” Khawaja said he was “pretty glad” the match came to a conclusion inside two days, revealing he had planned for even more drastic intervention in a bid to get himself fit to bat. “The next day, I already had the radiology booked … I was going to get an epidural in my back, so I can actually move somewhat,” he said. “I had it booked in, ready to go, so if the team needed me, I was there again.”