Veteran Australia batter Usman Khawaja has announced that he will retire from international cricket after the fifth Ashes Test against England at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Khawaja called a press conference and made his announcement with his family by his side just two days ahead of the match, which is crucial for the team aiming to secure another 12 World Test Championship points and finish the series as 4-1 victors.
“I’m here to announce today that I will be retiring from all international cricket after the SCG Test match,” Khawaja told the press. “God through cricket has given me far more than I could have imagined. He’s given me memories I’ll carry forever, friendships that go well beyond the game, and lessons that shaped me, who I am, off the field. But no career belongs to one person. I obviously had a lot of help. To my parents, thank you for your sacrifices that never made the highlights reel.”
Khawaja informed his Australia teammates only moments before their training session, two days out from the series finale against England.
In a career spanning 15 years, Khawaja has amassed over 8,000 international runs across formats, appearing in 87 Tests, 40 ODIs, and nine T20Is. He retires as one of Australia’s most prolific run-scorers; just 30 more runs in his farewell Test will see him surpass Michael Hussey’s total of 6,235, placing him 14th among Australian men.
Khawaja leaves the game as one of only 18 Australdigihunt to have scored more than 15 Test centuries, finishing with 16 hundreds in the longest format. He also departs with 49 limited-overs appearances, including two ODI centuries.
Fittingly, Khawaja bows out in his home city of Sydney, where he made his Test debut against England in 2011. It was also at the SCG that Khawaja reignited his career as a 35-year-old, scoring twin centuries against England in early 2022 when Travis Head was sidelined with Covid.
This led to a final career spark, with Khawaja hitting seven centuries in his first two years back in the side and achieving a World Test Championship win in 2023. In the same year, he was named ICC Test Cricketer of the Year and Shane Warne Test Cricketer of the Year, playing a crucial role in Australia’s World Test Championship triumph.
Khawaja informed coach Andrew McDonald after the fourth Test in Melbourne that he would conclude his career in Sydney. “It’s been tough; I’ve just wanted to tell everyone. I told teammates just then. I didn’t think I’d get emotional, but I teared up straightaway, and I had to compose myself. I finally composed myself and got out what I wanted to say.”
“I never thought I’d be the guy that would cry when he retired, but I cried straightaway. It just shows what it means to me. My journey has been different from a lot of cricketers in the Australian cricket team. All that emotion built up,” he added.
Khawaja will continue to play for the Brisbane Heat in the BBL and has also stated his intention to remain available for Queensland’s Sheffield Shield side.