‘He takes his leave as one of the more significant Australian cricketers of recent times’: Michael Atherton on Usman Khawaja’s impact

Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja with his wife Rachel and daughters Aisha and Ayla after announcing that he will retire from international cricket following the fifth and final Ashes cricket test between England and Australia in Sydney, Australia, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

With the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne ending within two days with the Test being the third shortest in Australia in terms of balls bowled, the fifth and final test of the Ashes at Sydney Cricket Ground has the writing world talking about the pitch at the iconic venue. While Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja announced his retirement on Friday with the Sydney Test being his last in Australia colours, Khawaja will hope to end his career with a fine run at Sydney. With the Sydney pitch not offering assistance to spin in recent years, former England captain Michael Atherton has shared how Sydney pitch used to be spin friendly when Khawaja would enter the ground as a young boy during free hour of play and how Khawaja leaves as one of ‘more significant Australian cricketers’ of recent times.

“All eyes are trained on this (Sydney) surface, after the schemozzle in Melbourne. Todd Murphy, the off-spinner, is in firm consideration to play his first Test on home soil and the general hope is that spin will have a role to play. Melbourne was the first-ever Ashes Test in Australia not to feature a single over of spin and there have been fewer wickets to spin in this series than any previous in Australia. It is, though, a long way from the spin-friendly venue it used to be when Khawaja would make his way into the ground for the final, free hour of play as a young boy, and he takes his leave as one of the more significant Australian cricketers of recent times,” Atherton wrote in his column for The Times.

Khawaja had come to Australia from Pakistan along with his parents at the age of four and started his cricketing journey at Sydney, where his parents emigrated. Khawaja had made his First Class debut as well Test debut at Sydney Cricket Ground in 2008 and 2011 respectively and his tally of 6,206 runs in 87 Tests places him at the 15th spot in Australia’s highest run-getters list. Khawaja needs 30 more runs in his farewell Test to surpass Michael Hussey’s tally of 6,235 runs. Atherton shared how he sees Khawaja’s retirement call as a timely end to a fine career. “He came to Australia from Pakistan as a four-year-old and became Australia’s first Muslim Test cricketer, and a role model to many. He made his Test debut in Sydney and scored twin hundreds here in 2022, a comeback that sparked a late career surge. He is the first of this ageing team to go. How well the selectors manage the transformation to come will determine the next Ashes bouts. The strength of the system here gives them confidence that any downturn will be shallow and short-lived, as new talent bursts through. Khawaja has chosen his moment wisely; a fitting, but timely, end to a fine career,” wrote Atherton.

Announcing his retirement, Khawaja shared how he grew up in Sydney and how seeing Australian cricketer Michael Slater motivated him to aspire being a Test cricketer. “I lived just up the road from the SCG, on Cook Road, to be exact. And I’ll never forget when I was younger, I saw Michael Slater drive in his red Ferrari. I couldn’t believe my luck, I just saw a Test cricketer. And as a boy whose parents were barely scraping through and trying to provide for their kids in a little two-bedroom apartment, I thought, ‘One day I’m going to be a Test cricketer, and one day I can drive whatever I want’. Never did I think that God would grant me such a wish. I’m here to announce today that I’ll be retiring from all international cricket after the SCG Test match,” Khawaja said while announcing his retirement in Sydney on Friday.