Steve Smith has officially been ruled out of the third Test in a shock 11th-hour twist that sees Usman Khawaja return to Australia’s set up.
The stand-in captain for the first two Tests of this summer’s Ashes was seen having intense dialogue with Andrew McDonald and Pat Cummins on Wednesday morning, where the trio look to have made a final call on his availability.
“He walked away disconsolate after that discussion,” Kerry O’Keeffe noted after witnessing the discussion.
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Smith missed training on Monday with illness, however returned to bat in the Adelaide Oval nets on Tuesday morning, seemingly removing any doubt over his spot in the side.
But in dramatic scenes, Smith walked across the ground with his backpack on just 20 minutes before the toss, seemingly confirming his fate that sees Khawaja return to the side in the unlikeliest of ways.
Outside of a rogue knock to the lower torso, Smith batted and moved well in the nets just 24 hours before the first ball, as Khawaja practiced in the fair net against the side-arm and local Sturt spinner Lachlan Ranaldo.
During the toss, Cummins confirmed Smith was feeling “unwell”, with multiple reports since confirming the right-hander has suffered another bout of vertigo.
“He came and gave it a crack this morning, but didn’t think he was going to get up for this one. He’s heading off home,” Cummins said at the toss.
“Pretty lucky we’ve got someone like Usman (Khawaja) who can step right in.”
Khawaja will fill the 36-year-old’s void directly at number four in the batting order, with Jake Weatherald and Travis Head to continue their role as Australia’s openers.
In 153 Test innings, Khawaja has batted just twice in the number four position that has been held by Smith for so many years now.
Ironically, one of those two innings came in the first Test match this summer, where Khawaja was unable to open after back spasms prevented him from opening the batting in Perth.
“It’s a big blow for that order, a little bit disruptive as well,” Australian great Alyssa Healy told Fox Cricket after the coin toss, which will see the Aussies bat first.
“I tend to agree to an extent with putting Usman at four. It probably disrupts the others less so, so that might be the best way to look at it.
“He’s got an opportunity to bat again for Australia, and he’s going to grab it with both hands.”
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