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Usman Khawaja ventured to England this winter to hone his game and recapture the attention of the national selectors who seemed to have moved on from the Queenslander.
The 27-year-old must have felt deflated after labouring during his stint with Lancashire in division one of the County Championship. A sole hundred was the only high point amid a return of 413 runs at 32 across seven first-class matches.
This Australian summer now shapes as a pivotal juncture in Khawaja’s cricketing journey. Four years ago, he looked set to have a prosperous international career.
Possessed of a tight defensive technique and a generous assortment of strokes, Khawaja made a promising debut against England just weeks after his 24th birthday.
While he only made 37 and 21, Australia’s Ashes campaign had been so calamitous that his performances in the fifth Test at Sydney was viewed as a bright spot.
Batting at first drop he spent a combined three-and-a-half hours at the crease in that match. Showcasing sage shot selection and admirable patience, he defied an England attack that had vaporised Australia all summer.
Khawaja appeared unflustered, unhurried and undaunted by Test cricket. He looked like a natural successor at number three to legendary batsman Ricky Ponting. But now, after having been dropped three times in his nine-Test career, the 27-year-old has fallen off the radar of the national selectors.
During his last stint in the Test side, in last year’s Ashes in England, the left-handed strokemaker looked unrecognisable at the crease. Patently batting with nerves and self-doubt, Khawaja’s play was stilted and uncertain. His struggles against former England off spinner Graeme Swann were particularly stark.
He was promptly dumped from the Test line-up. But Khawaja rebounded strongly in the Sheffield Shield last summer, returning 551 runs at 50, including an imperious 182* in a record run chase against South Australia late in the season.
Despite his off-season form trough in England, his batting has looked pristine in the current Matador BBQs One Day Cup.
An aesthetically-pleasing cricketer, Khawaja appeared in command during every one of his first five innings in the competition. But he frittered away a string of good starts, registering just one fifty.
Finally on Saturday, he produced the epic dig he had promised to play, gracefully bullying Tasmania’s attack en route to 166 from 110 balls as his side incredibly chased down 398 to win.
Khawaja is the leading runscorer in the competition, with 403 runs at 66, following on from his similarly impressive return of 426 runs at 71 in the domestic one dayers last season.
He said recently that he viewed ODIs as perhaps his most likely avenue back into international cricket. His fluent strokeplay will have ensured that he is a strong chance of forcing his way into Australia’s World Cup squad.
If he can translate that potent form into Sheffield Shield runs, Khawaja could find himself back in the frame for Test cricket, the format for which he looks so well suited.
With only two settled members of Australia’s favoured Test top six aged less than 33 years old, opportunities will soon arise for emerging players.
Mitch Marsh and Glenn Maxwell are fighting it out to take Shane Watson’s spot as Test all-rounder. Phil Hughes is odds on to replace veteran opener Chris Rogers when he retires.
Alex Doolan is trying to make a fist of batting number three. And the likes of Tasmanian Jordan Silk, Queenslanders Chris Lynn and Joe Burns, Sydneysiders Ryan Carters and Nic Maddinson and South Australian Travis Head are emerging as potential Test players.
Khawaja can still have a substantial international career. But with some of those younger players rising rapidly he must be at the top of his game when the next chance comes to pass.