Former South Australian and Victorian wicketkeeper Darren Berry has highlighted the reasons behind Usman Khawaja’s constant struggles against spin bowlers.
Khawaja was called out lbw for just 11 in Australia’s opening innings of the Ashes First Test, with English all-rounder Moeen Ali taking the wicket. Berry believes a flaw in the 30-year-old’s technique underpins his poor form against spin bowlers.
“He gets his head significantly outside the line of the ball, which then gives him a false impression about the line of the ball because his eyes are well outside off stump,” he told SEN’s The Run Home.
“He has been hit in the knee roll bang inside of middle stump. He is out again lbw to spin.
“We saw his troubles in the sub-continent, we all thought he would be better at The Gabba, this is his home pitch.
“He is a good player, very good against pace, but until he gets over this spin issue, we are going to continually ask questions.”
Australia's team performance boss Pat Howard mentioned prior to the Ashes that the Queensland captain has to improve his batting against spin, something that has yet to be seen this summer.
"I've spoken to [Khawaja], so absolutely I understand and I think one of the things, if you want to be a good player at Test level, you're going to have to be good against spin," he said, via Fairfax Media.
"Five of the nine Test-playing nations are very spin friendly, so if you want to be playing all the Tests all the time [it's] obviously got to be part of your mix. The Ashes is at home, it's a place [Khawaja] has had an outstanding record and so have the others."
After getting England out for 302, Australia’s top order has collapsed, with Khawaja, Cameron Bancroft, David Warner and Peter Handscomb out for a combined total of 56.
Did you miss Darren Berry’s thoughts on Day Two of The Ashes? Take a listen in the player below!