Andrew McDonald Dismisses Usman Khawaja’s Retirement Talks Ahead of Sydney Test

By Samira Vishwas On Dec 30, 2025

The Australian head coach, Andrew McDonald, has provided a major hint about Usman Khawaja’s retirement after the fifth and final test of the Ashes 2025/26.

He said that the selectors have given no indication from Usman Khawaja about his playing future, but have guaranteed his selection in Sydney while acknowledging the batting unit is not functioning at full capacity.

He added that Cameron Green batting in five different positionin his last five tests is a result of him having to fit around others due to not being able to bed down a role with a weight of runs and he confirmed that Beau Webster would be considered for Sydney.

Australia do not play another test for eight months following the Ashes. Khawaja started the series as Australia’s long-time incumbent opener but has not opened in the series due to suffering back spasms in Perth.

He missed the Brisbane Test due to spasms and then was initially left out of the side for Adelaide before being recalled at bat at No.4 just 45 minutes before the toss due to Steve Smith’s illness.

Speaking on a edia interaction, Australia head coach Andrew McDonald said, “He’s with his family at the moment having a couple of days off,” McDonald said. “We’re always having conversations about where players are at, there’s no indication at my end that he’s calling it in Sydney.

Usman Khawaja (image: X)

“But his performance in this calendar year has been good enough to warrant selection, so I’d say he’ll be there marking centre in Sydney.”Speaing on any decisions, Khawaja’s long term future can wait. “I think Uz will come to us if he’s going to retire, there’s no doubt about that,” McDonald said. “And then after this Test match, we’ve got eight months until the next one, so we’ve got a lot of time as a selection group to make that decision.

“If there was a series straight off the back of this, then it would be a little bit different. But with the eight-month gap, as a selection panel, we’ve got a lot of time to think about our next Test team should Uz push forward.”He also added that Australia would want to acknowledge any player should they decided to call tim on time career.

“We use Davey Warner as a test case, he got clapped off the SCG three years in a row because everyone thought it was going to be his last Test match,” McDonald said. “If Uz makes no statement around his future leading into that Test match, that crowd will still be very supportive of him.

“Our challenge is if any of our great players retire, is that you want to acknowledge them.”The final test of the Ashes 2025-26 will be played between January 04 and 08 at Sydney Cricket GroundMoore Park.

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